The Tale of Zekken and the Beater
by Herosassin
Summary: AU. Yuuki Konno isn't suffering from AIDS. Instead, she's one of the 10000 people trapped inside the virtual reality game Sword Art Online. Along the way, she meets Kirito, the Beater. Will sparks fly? Will they be friends, something more or enemies? Will Yuuki live to see it through or will she fall by Kayaba's creation? Let the tale of Zekken and the Beater begin!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Legacy

**AN:** **Just clarifying a few things. This essentially is a rewrite of SAO with Yuuki in it (and not suffering from AIDS).**

 **Any and all feedback are welcome as it'll help me with my writing (just don't savagely roast me)**

 **This fanfic is inspired from the awesome fanfic written by Shou21. (Don't worry, I will have a different storyline to his).**

 **Anyway, enough with my rambling. Onward with the story!**

* * *

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Happy birthday Yuuki! Here's your present!" said my twin sister Aiko as she gave me a small rectangular box wrapped with violet wrapping paper. I eagerly unwrapped it, curious to see what it was. After the wrapping paper had been removed, I could see a small container with a picture of a floating castle in the sky in my hands.

"SWORD ART ONLINE!? Thankyouthankyouthankyou thank you soooo much sis!" I exclaimed, hugging my sister. I soon broke the hug and eagerly turned the box over and started reading the blurb and information on the back.

"What about me? Did you forget it is my birthday as well?" pouted Aiko.

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry big sis, got a bit too hyped hehe..." I said sheepishly, putting my hand on the nape of my neck. "I'll be right back!" I yelled as I ran to my room, searching for the present I bought for my sister for her birthday. After a while I found what I was looking for; the latest book of _Campaign Against the Stars: Thylo's Revenge_. Aiko suddenly appeared next to my room's doorway.

"Sooooo, did you forget to get your older sister a present? I guess I'll have to take back my present..."

"Nope, nope I didn't. Here it is!" I interrupted, giving her the book I bought her.

"Sooo, do you like it?" I asked.

"I don't like it..."

I tried to hide my disappointment but seemingly failed as my eyes started to water.

"...I LOVE IT! Thanks so much Yuuki!" my twin sister yelled, embracing me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Um... A-Aiko? I'm dying over here...you're hugging me too tight again." I wheezed.

"Oops, sorry."

As soon as my sister let go of me, I felt air coming back into my lungs. My sister then bolted to her room, eager to start reading her new book. As for me, I decided to call my parents on my computer before trying out the new game my sister bought for me.

"Happy Birthday Yuuki! Sorry we couldn't come home for you and Aiko's birthday. But at least we can wish our little girl happy birthday, even when we're in France for a business trip." my father said.

"Dad! I'm not a little girl, I'm 14!" I whined.

"To me, you'll always be a little girl to us darling." my mother responded. "Anyway, did you set up the nerve gear we gave you, you know, the early birthday present?" my father asked.

"Yes dad. Thank you so much for the nerve gear! I can't wait to test it out!"

"Anyway, we got to go Yuuki, tell Aiko we wish her a happy birthday too!"

With that, the computer screen faded black as the call ended. Putting on the nerve gear, I waited a few seconds before starting the calibration process.

 _So many people know that Aiko and I are identical twins. Yet we seem to have the personalities and interests that are complete opposites. I am really enthusiastic and bubbly while Aiko is calm and collected. While I love video games, especially ones that have sword fighting in it, Aiko seems to love books more than anything and would spend most of her free time reading books. Oh well, at least I don't have to share the nerve gear with her!_

As I finished the calibration process, the nerve gear asked me to create an account. Using the virtual keyboard, I entered my username, "Yuuki". After choosing a password, I yelled,

"LINK START!"

 **Kirito's POV**

"LINK START!"

Colourful flashes of light appeared in my vision as the Nerve Gear initiated, logging me back into the world of Sword Art Online. I was lucky enough to be a beta tester, one of the 1000 people who were allowed to beta test and I was ready to beat this game. As I thought about what I would do first in SAO, my avatar spawned in the centre of the Town of Beginnings. I opened my menu to see if my stats were still there along with my items when I realised that they had been wiped. Well, I guess it only made sense for that to happen since it would be unfair to all the other players if the beta testers were able to just keep all their stats and gear. "Well, I guess I'll have to start grinding." I said to myself as I started to run along the streets, heading towards the exit of this town.

"Um... excuse me mister." a shy voice asked.

"Hello, what do you want?" I asked, looking at the girl with purple hair who had asked me. The girl was dressed in a violet overcoat with a purple breastplate and had a sheathed dark purple sword hanging on her waist.

"Y-You seem like you know your way around here. A-Are you a beta tester?" she asked, seemingly nervous.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" I answered, confused on why she asked me.

"Could you please teach me how to...fight and do other things in this world. I'm new and I thought a beta tester like you could show me. Please?" the girl got to her knees and begged me.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Really? Yay!" the girl exclaimed, holding out a 'V' sign with her fingers. "My name's Yuuki, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too Yuuki. My name's Kirito. Now, come with me, I'll show you the basics of SAO outside of town."

As we walked through the streets of the Town of Beginnings, I decided to ask her some questions so that I could see how I could help her out.

"So Yuuki, what kind of weapon do you prefer to use?" I asked.

"A one-handed sword. But I want it to be light since I like to be quick on my feet while fighting." Yuuki cheerfully responded.

"I see. Is the one you have currently ok?"

"Yeah, it's pretty good. But how do I fight, I saw that you could sword skills in SAO but if we had to open menus to activate them, wouldn't it take too long?" Yuuki asked.

When Yuuki had finished her question, we had arrived at the Meadows of Beginning, the perfect place for me to teach Yuuki how to fight.

"So, you see, with certain movements you can activate different sword skills. In the menu, you can even choose which movement activates which sword skill." I explained to Yuuki. The purple haired girl looked at me with a puzzled expression. "I'll give you an example." I raised my sword behind my head and sword suddenly glowed orange. Then I charged at a wandering boar, allowing the system to execute the rest of the sword skill for me, leaving a trail of orange as I dashed past the boar, slicing the boar as I passed it. The boar's health bar dropped to the yellow zone.

"See? The system helps you with the execution of the skill as well. As long as you activate it and charge towards a target, the system will help you land your blows onto the monster. Have a try Yuuki." I said.

Yuuki turned towards the injured boar, frowning in concentration as she lowered her sword downwards, towards the ground. She then lifted her sword up, as if lifting a dumbbell, activating a sword skill. However, instead of glowing orange like mine, it glowed dark red. Yuuki then charged at the boar, slashing at the bear twice before leaping back. The boar's health meter lowered again until it was in the red zone.

"This is awesome! Thanks Ki-"

"Watch out Yuuki! When the eyes flash red, it signifies an attack!" I yelled just before the boar's eyes flashed red and it charged straight at Yuuki.

"Ow!" Yuuki grunted as the boar hit her, tusk first in the stomach, flipping her over as it continued its path.

"Are you ok Yuuki?" I asked the purple haired girl who was curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach.

"What do you think dummy?" she responded, still clutching her stomach.

"Well, considering the fact that the pain absorption in this game is set to 10, you shouldn't really feel any pain at all." I said.

"Ugh, that's true." Suddenly, she jumped back onto her feet, with a cheerful grin on her face. "Well mister Kirito, anything else you can teach me?"

[A few hours later]

 _"Woah. Yuuki actually is good once she got the hang of using sword skills."_ I thought as I watched Yuuki flip over another boar and kill it in a few swipes.

"Well, it seems like you've got the hang of it Yuuki. There's nothing else I need to teach you." I said after Yuuki walked over to me.

"Thanks mister Kirito. Well, I better get going. My sister is gonna be mad at me if I stay too long." Yuuki cheerfully said before opening the menu, ready to hit the log out button.  
"Um... mister Kirito? I know this sounds like the stupidest question ever, but where is the logout button?"

I looked at her in shock. "Its right here...?" I said, opening my own menu only to realise that the log out button was missing. "Well, it should be here but I'm not sure where it has gone." I added.

"Is there any other way to log out of here. Like Alt F4 or something?" Yuuki asked, slightly panicking.

"Uh... No. The only way for someone to log out is through the logout button which seems to have glitched out?" I answered.

"Umm... Do you feel tingly all of a sudden?" Yuuki suddenly asked.

As soon as she asked that, a blue light encompassed Yuuki before fading, taking Yuuki with it. Soon after, it encompassed me.

 **Yuuki's POV**

After my vision was temporarily blinded by the sudden light I found myself back at the central square of the Town of Beginnings. A second later, Kirito appears right beside me.

"Any idea why we're here Kirito?" I asked. Kirito shook his head.

"It seems as though someone forced us to teleport here." Kirito replied. "Look, the sky is turning red!" I looked up and gasped in shock as I saw the sky darken into a crimson red colour. What was worse, was the bleeding from the sky. The sky seemed to bleed before creating a hooded entity Frankenstein-style.

"Welcome players of Sword Art Online, to Aincrad!" boomed the hooded figure.

(I can't really be bothered to type out every single line Kayaba says.)

As the hooded figure introduced himself as Kayaba Akihiko, the inventor of Nerve Gear and game master of SAO, I thought about how many people were in the town square listening to the creepy game master.

"...if your health bar reaches zero, your avatar will be deleted and you will be exterminated in real life as well. Remember, there is no logout button. Before I go, I'd like to give you all a present. Good luck!"

And with that, Kayaba Akihiko dissipated leaving everyone shocked. I opened my inventory and found a mirror. I tapped it and then another bright light surrounded me, getting brighter every second.

"Updating avatar to real life appearance." droned a mechanical voice. Within a few seconds, I was free from the light again, only this time, I looked like my real self, not that it was much different. I looked around to see dozens of other flashes happening around the central square as more and more people were having their avatar updated to look like their real self.

"Yuuki, is that you?"

I turned around, only to see a younger, nicer looking guy standing next to me.

"Kirito, is that you? You look much better than your old avatar." I asked.  
" _And more attractive too. "_ I thought.

"Yeah, it's me. Thanks for the compliment. You look way more beautiful and cuter too." replied Kirito.

My face suddenly heated up, turning red. "T-Thanks K-Kirito."

"Anyway, come on, we gotta go to the next town so that we can get a headstart on grinding."

"Sorry, I wanna stay and explore a bit by myself first. I'm sure we'll meet again. Just promise me that you'll survive till we meet again." I said, holding my hand. Kirito shook it.

"I promise. Well, I've gotta go start grinding. I'll be seeing you around. Until next time!"

"Wait. Just...friend me so that we can keep in touch?" I asked, sending him a friend request. Kirito's finger hovered over the blue circle button before pressing it. And with that, Kirito started running towards the town's gate while I decided to further hone my sword skills. I walked towards the central square, hoping I'll see Kirito again.

* * *

 **AN: Well, that is the first chapter of this book.**

 **I want to mention that I did get inspiration from Shou21, just so that you guys (if people even read this) won't scream plagiariser at me. Anyway, feel free to leave suggestions and feedback in the comments and I'll be seeing you next week with a new chapter. (Or sooner)**

 **See ya!**

 **-Herosassin**


	2. Chapter 2: A Samurai's Plea

**AN: You may have noticed from the first chapter that I'm not exactly following the SAO storyline. But what's the fun in just rewriting the SAO storyline with Yuuki? I plan to add my own little plots into this story but they'll connect to the proper plot. Eventually.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, feel free to give me feedback.**

 **Anon 0: "** **Nice. I always look forward to seeing more fanfics with Yuuki.** **That being said, is there a reason why you aged her up? In canon, she was born in 2010, so she'd be around 12 years old at the time the Death Game started (Silica is the same age). Kirito was born in 2008, so he is around 14 years old."**

 **A: Well, I never actually knew Kirito was 14, I thought he was 15 when he started SAO. But I probably need to stick to somewhat canon so he'll be 14. I honestly meant Yuuki to be the same age as Kirito since it would be (for me at least) quite awkward to make a story that ships Kirito and Yuuki if Kirito was like 14 and Yuuki was like 12. But I agree that Yuuki's age should be changed. In fact, by the time you read this, Yuuki will be a year younger.  
** **(Magic editing powers!)**

 **Thanks so far for the feedback and support all of you have given me. It really means a lot. :)**

 **Onto the story!**

 **(Also, this chapter is more centred around Kirito than Yuuki. Sorry!)**

* * *

 **Kirito's POV**

 _A month has passed, but no one has cleared the first floor. No one has even found the boss room yet. Even beta testers like me haven't found the boss room. Many have already lost hope. But this game won't break me. Kayaba won't break me. I wonder how Yuuki is doing._

"Help! Anyone?!"

A sudden cry for help pierced my thoughts. I looked around, drawing my sword. There was nothing that I could see in the immediate vicinity save for trees, shrubs and vines everywhere. Walking around I turned towards the source of the desperate plea I just heard. Walking towards the source I could clearly see what was going on. A group of hooded figures with black robes seemed to be fighting against another group of players who dressed like samurais in red.

 _"Pkers."_ I thought. _"Even though Kayaba only trapped the player of SAO for a month, people have already started to go insane. Player killers were people who decided to kill people for no reason except for sadistic enjoyment. I can never understand why, but all I know is that I have to watch my back for not only monsters, but Pkers as well since I plsy solo. But I've never seen a large group of Pkers together. Usually they are solo or in groups of twos or threes. Not like five at once."_

 _"_ Hey you guys. What do you think you're doing?" I yelled at the five hooded figures surrounding the injured samurais as I ran towards them, out onto the clearing. sword in hand.

"Damn it. Another person. We don't have enough manpower for another person. Retreat!" snarled one of the hooded figures who held a cleaver. With that, the group of black robed figures with hoods melted into the shadows of the forest.

"Ah, thank goodness you arrived. Thanks for saving us!" One of the samurais in the group walked towards me, thanking me. "My name's Klein and once again, thank you for saving me and my guild, the Fuurinkazan from those Pkers."

"No worries. My name's Kirito. Does your guild know how to fight...properly? It seems like you guys were taking quite a beating while they seemed almost unharmed." I noted that almost all of the members except for Klein had their health in the red zone, meaning they were about to be finished had I not intervened. Even Klein wouldn't have lasted much longer, seeing how his health bar was in the low yellow section. "Here, have some potions. It seems like your guild would need it." I said, handing out some potions to Klein.

"Thank you so much. Why would you help us though?" Klein asked curiously while handing out my potions to his injured guildmates. "I mean most people have the survival of the fittest mentality going on ever since that damned Kayaba trapped us here." Klein continued, before drinking a health potion. Klein gagged right after drained his potion. "Ugh, so...bitter. Well, I guess Kayaba still held onto some reality such as making medicine disgusting" Klein joked.

"Well, I guess I'm not like the majority of people here. Anyway, I'd never live with myself if I let a group of people die before my eyes without helping." I said, sitting down on a rock next to Klein. "Anyway, you didn't really answer my question. Do you and your guild know to fight?" I asked, eyeing Klein's guild.

A sigh escaped Klein as he put his hand behind head before he responded, "Well, we know how to fight with our weapons. We just don't know how to do those fancy glowing attacks with our weapons."

"I could teach you. I'd hate to see you guys die just because you didn't know how to defend yourselves properly." I offered, looking straight at Klein.

"You would? Thanks a lot. Really." Klein replied happily. Klein turned towards his guild addressing them. "Ok guys, Kirito is gonna teach us how to use those glowing, hit-like-a-truck weapon attacks those PK scoundrels used on us!" His guild responded with a cheer.

After walking for a bit, we went into a clearing where there were Feral Boars spawning.

"This should be the best place to teach you how to use sword skills/weapon skills." I said, drawing my blade from my sheath. "As you level up, your avatar will learn/gain new skills that can be used with your weapon to deal devastating attacks against your target. Each skill can be assigned to a different movement you do with your weapon. To activate them, you execute that particular movement, depending on the skill. Like this." I explained, holding my sword behind my head, activating one of my sword skills. My sword blade ignited with an orange glow before I charged at one of the Feral Boars, slashing the boar as I rushed past it.

"As you can see, as long as you go towards your target, the system helps you aim and hit your target. Another suggestion is to assign skill cues to movements that fit it. If you have a thrusting skill, assign it to a movement that allows you to use it quickly." I continued, sheathing my blade behind my back before turning back to Klein and his guildmates.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Klein exclaimed, amazed at my execution of one of my sword skills. "Lemme try!" Klein flicked his katana blade upwards with his wrist and charged at another Feral Boar. However, his blade did not glow with any colour at all and so when he reached the boar and tried to slash it with his blade, it did nothing except damage the boar slightly as well as enraging it. The boar retaliated by charging at Klein, point blank, impaling him with its tusk in the stomach before shaking him off, sending Klein flying. When Klein landed, he clutched his stomach, groaning as two small but visible slits were visible along his abdomen.

"You ok?" I asked as I finished off the boar that attacked Klein with a slash.

"What does it look like? I was impaled by a frickn' boar. Why does it hurt though? I thought this game had maximum pain absorption." Klein groaned, slowly getting up.

"It seems as though you forgot to assign movement cues to your skills." I noted as I helped Klein back onto his feet.

"Oh yeah, whoops..." Klein said as he opened his in-game menu and started assigning different skills to different movements. Soon, all the members of the Fuurinkazan had mastered the technique of using weapon skills in a variety of different scenarios.

* * *

 _"They work really well as a team..."_ I thought as I observed them working on their weapon skills. A giant boar known as Mother Feral Boar had just spawned and the Fuurinkazan were taking it down effortlessly. The tank used his hammer skill, which glowed neon green, on the boar's legs, drawing its attention before ducking behind his shield while Klein and another member ran underneath the giant boar, swords glowing red as they slashed at its legs, causing red gashes to appear on the boar's legs. As the boar turned around to chase Klein and his friend, the remaining two guild members, armed with a spear and halberd respectively, activated their skills, thrusting at the boar with their lengthy weapons while still in the safety of the tank's shield. The boar gave a massive shriek before exploding into a million small triangular pieces. The guild cheered as the screen that gave them EXP and Col appeared in front of them.

"Congratulations guys. You guys really are good. All you needed to know was how to use weapons skills. Now you do." I congratulated, walking towards them, clapping.

"Thanks Kirito. But if it wasn't for you, we would've never been able to learn. You really are a great teacher!" Klein responded. "Kirito, would you join our guild? We could use someone like you helping us to escape this game." another member offered, hoping I would accept.

I stood there, shocked that they thought I was a good teacher and that they wanted me. However, I had noticed while I was teaching them, that they all seemed to know each other really well and well, if I joined them, I'd probably end up being a 3rd or even 7th wheel in the guild.

"Nah, sorry. I'll pass for now. I prefer soloing for the time being." I declined.

"Will you decline a friend request?" Klein asked, sending me one.

"I'm not that anti-social Klein." I said jokingly, hitting the blue circle on the friend request.

"Oh really Kirito? Klein shot back in as joking manner. "Anyway, remember, you'll always be an honorary member of the Fuurinkazan."

"Thanks Klein. I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I need to get going. Afterall, I need to restock my potions supply." I said turning towards the main road back to the nearest town.

As I walked back to town, I noticed a figure in purple, ducking and weaving between the legs of a Mother Feral Boar, slashing furiously. I stopped and stared. Her fighting style was both graceful and deadly like a snake. As the boar try to trample the graceful purple figure, the figure somersaulted backwards before crouching and flicking their wrist. Their sword glowed crimson red. The figure then ran at the boar, ready to release hell on the boar when they suddenly stopped and collapsed. The boar, having no hesitation, charged at the collapsed figure, ready to end their life right there and then.

"No!" I growled, drawing my sword while running towards the fallen figure in purple. I held the sword behind my head as it started to glow orange before dashing straight past the boar, slashing it right through its legs. The boar shrieked its last cry before shattering into small triangular pieces that floated back to the sky. I ran back to the purple figure who was still on the ground, not moving at all. A purple blouse with a purple overcoat and a pale violet sword. There was only one person I knew who in Sword Art Online that dressed like that. _Yuuki._ As I approached her, I checked her health bar to see if she was paralysed. She wasn't. I decided to take her somewhere safer; if I left her in the fields, monsters would eventually spawn and kill her. As I went to carry her bridal style, I noticed that her eyes were closed, as if she was unconscious. As I ran to the town, I thought to myself: _"I wonder if something is happening in the real world. Like, maybe someone found a way to remove the Nerve Gear safely or something."_ As soon as I made it to the town, I went to the inn and got two rooms, one for myself and one for Yuuki. I noticed that I got quite a few looks for carrying Yuuki but honestly, I could not care one bit. Entering the room I had booked for Yuuki, I laid her down onto the bed. Looking around, I noticed a small wooden round table with two chairs and decided to sit on one, figuring that I would wait for her to regain consciousness and see if she was alright.

 _"She looks quite cute. Wait... no, I shouldn't think of her like this. That's just...creepy. Especially since she's not even conscious."_ My face seemingly felt somewhat hotter, thank goodness she wouldn't be able to see that. I decided to wait in my room for her to be conscious and so had gotten up to leave. As soon as I got up, my vision darkened and my legs felt weak. Soon after I collapsed onto the hard, wooden floor before blacking out.

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Ugh, what happened." I look around at my surroundings as I tried to remember what happened. "I was fighting the giant boar when...I just blacked out? But why am I in an inn room then?" I wondered puzzled how I could be in an inn room. I look around the wooden walled room until my eyes found him. Kirito, on the floor dead-still. I rushed over to his body and immediately checked his health bar. Green zone and no status ailments. Then what happened? His eyes were closed and his in-game avatar seemed fine but... " _He must've saved me. I would've been dead otherwise since I didn't kill the boar when I mysteriously collapsed. Now the same thing has happened to him only this time he's in a safe zone. Kirito brought me here."_ I realised. I lifted him up; well tried to anyway and managed to put him in an upright sitting position with his back up against the bed. After that, I decided to keep a watch on him so that I could thank him when he woke up. As I sat on one of the chairs, my eyes started to become heavy and soon I felt myself drifting away, feeling my head rest on the table.

 **Suguha's POV**

 _"Hang in there brother."_ I thought to myself as I saw the emergency workers transport the seemingly lifeless body of my brother from his room to the hospital. Ever since that death game started, emergency workers have been working around the clock transferring all the players to hospitals so that they could be on life support while they tried to clear the game.

 _"Stay strong big brother. I have faith in you."_

* * *

 **Well, that marks the end of the second chapter. This one was more about covering plot points that I had changed in the last chapter as well as trying to create a story on things referenced in the anime (like everybody suddenly going limp when their bodies were being transferred to hospitals).**

 **Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. As always, feel free to give me feedback in the comments and I will try to improve.**

 **Now, I'll see you next week for the third chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Until next time!**

 **~ Herosassin**


	3. Chapter 3: Rise of the Beater

**AN: Hey, I'm back! Time for the third instalment of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **(I suck at writing fight scenes.)**

 **Thank you so much for the continued support. I really appreciate it!** **  
**  
 **Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Kirito's POV**

 _"Ugh... What happened...wait. Why do I have my back against a wall? Also, didn't I fall unconscious on the floor? What is going on?"_ I thought as I cautiously looked around. I got up, ready to draw my sword when I noticed Yuuki's head resting on the small wooden table, asleep. _"Oh. She must've woken up and found me unconscious."_ I walked slowly towards the door, straining to walk quietly as to not wake Yuuki up. When I got to the door, I decided to slowly open the door before exiting in order to not wake her up. That was a terrible mistake. As I opened the door, it creaked loudly and woke Yuuki up. "Whoops." I muttered as Yuuki stared at me blearily, trying to figure who I was and where she was.

"K-Kirito? Kirito! Thank you, for saving my life." Yuuki started as she slowly stood up, facing me.

"Well, it wasn't a big deal. I'm sure you would've done the same for me." I said closing the door behind me since there was no point walking out now.

"Kirito I-" A loud pinging sound interrupted Yuuki as an envelope icon with a bubble displaying '1' appeared in front of us. Curious, we tapped the icon and were presented with a short message:

 _"Dear Players,_

 _Congratulations for surviving. I am aware that there was an incident which caused a lot of players to suddenly fall unconscious. This is not the game's fault. The reason for the fainting is due to your bodies being moved to hospitals for nutrients and life support, as you have been logged in for one month now, and the human body can only survive so long without food and water._

 _Any players who died during this incident will not be revived as there is no revival in this game._

 _Thank You,_

 _Kayaba Ahkihiko, Game Master of Sword Art Online"_

"So that's why we collapsed." I said, now realising why Yuuki and I fell unconscious randomly.

"I wonder how many people died from this." Yuuki whispered shakily, sitting on the side of the bed. "Fighting monsters and collapsing before being able to kill them, killed by Pkers while they were defenceless, with no fault of their own...it's horrible." Yuuki continued. "And I could've been one of them, had it not been for you." she finished. She looked up at me. Her face was clouded with shock; shock that so many died from this incident. I sat down next to her on the bed and put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Remember what we promised when we first departed? That we would survive until we meet again? I'm not going to let you break that promise involuntarily by some oversight Kayaba made. I promise you, that we'll make it to floor 100 and clear this game so that we can be free."

 **Yuuki's POV**

I felt the warmth of Kirito's hand on my shoulders and looked up. Kirito was looking at me, smiling encouragingly as I stared back. "Just don't break that promise to me." I said, smiling at Kirito's promise. "What do you plan to do now?" I asked, curious to see his response. There was no response from him, just blank staring. "Um, Yuuki to Kirito, do you copy?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face.

"Wha-? U-Um... Y-Yeah." Kirito stuttered, looking slightly embarrassed. I laughed at how his face was turning red, starting pink and slowly growing redder as each second passed. Trying to cover up his embarrassment, he responded to my question: "Well, I was planning to go to the meeting being held in the Centurion Ruins. Apparently, they found the boss room and luckily collapsed in a safe zone. Now, they are having a meeting to discuss tactics on how to beat the boss."

"Sounds fun" I responded. "Can I go with you?" I asked, standing up.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Kirito said standing up as well and heading towards the door.

 **~Centurion Ruins - 3:00pm Game time~**

Sitting down with Kirito on the steps of the Centurion Ruins, I looked around the amphitheatre, trying to gauge what sort of people were at this meeting. One particular person caught my eye. A blue haired person dressed in light armour who was standing in the centre stage of the amphitheatre.

"Welcome everybody! My name's Diabel and in this game, I got the chose the job of being a knight!" the blue haired figure cheerfully said. As soon as he said this, the crowd started to laugh and some people even shouted: "There is no job system!". "Now the main purpose of this meeting is to discuss how we are gonna tackle the boss on this floor." Diabel continued, pacing around. "As you may or may not know, my party has found the boss room, located at the very top of the dungeon tower. However, we all know that-"

"Stop right there Diabel!" a player interrupted, who seemingly just arrived and was standing at the top level of the amphitheatre. "My name's Kibaou, got that? Now, before you talk about how to beat this boss, I wanna just get something off my chest. 2000 or so people have already died and I feel like some of you need to apologise to them." Kibaou ranted as he jumped down to where Diabel was.

"What are you talking about Kibaou?" Diabel asked, just as puzzled as the rest of the players in this meeting were.

"I'm talking about those dirty beta testers. They knew all about the best grinding spots, how to fight and where to get the best equipment. But what did they do when they found out that this was a death trap? I'll tell you! They abandoned us, farmed the living crap out of the best grinding spots and didn't even teach us anything. If they had helped the rest of us, they wouldn't have died." Kibaou exclaimed violently, clearly disliking the beta testers.

"May I say somethin'?" Another player asked as he stood up.

"And who are you sir?" Kibaou asked sarcastically.

"I am known by many names, the fearsome master of axes, the giant blacksmith and the crusher of monsters. But you can call me Agil." the tall player casually responded, making his way down to the centre. "Now, how many of you guys have received this?" Agil asked, his voice booming throughout the amphitheatre, as he held up a small brown handbook. "I assume all of you have it since it was handed out just after Kayaba's announcement. It contains all the tricks and tips for surviving and grinding in this world, very useful indeed. And guess who wrote it?  
The beta-testers." Agil continued. "Now, how many of you read it?"

"Not yet..." a player in the crowd admitted.

"Did you see how long it is? There's no way I would read that." another player complained.

"Why would I read a manual? That just sounds stupid!" a third player commented.

"Did you read the manual Yuuki?" Kirito whispered to me.

"Yeah, of course I did. I mean we are literally stuck in a death game. Any helpful hint, tip or trick is worth taking note of, if it means that I have a better chance of survival." I whispered back.

"Ok, so I can come to a conclusion that most if not all of you did not read this handbook and that this attitude is reflected out onto the general consensus that are stuck with us in this death game. So that means that it wasn't the beta testers fault that they died. I'm not gonna point fingers at anyone but I wanted to let you guys know that everyone had equal access to information, so the beta-testers didn't keep information to themselves." Agil concluded, before moving back to his seat. Kibaou on the other hand just stormed towards a seat in the front row, conceding his point.

"Now that we've got that matter out of the way, I feel like it is our duty, as the current most capable players of this game to clear that boss, to show the rest of the players that it isn't impossible to clear this game." Diabel said. "According to the handbook, the boss is called Illfang the Kobold Lord. He has four health bars and will constantly spawn minions known as the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and buckler but will switch to a curved sword called a Talwar when his last health bar hits red. Everybody clear on that?"

A chorus of agreement rumbled throughout the crowd.

"Now, to tackle this boss, we need several parties working together as a raid group. So, I want everyone to make 4-5 groups." Diabel ordered, before heading towards the front row of seats.

"Hey Yuuki, do you mind if I party with you?" Kirito asked, opening his menu, ready to send a party request.

"Sure Kirito, I don't mind." I answered cheerfully before hitting the confirm button when the request appeared in front of me. "Hey Kirito, I wonder if that hooded figure over there is in a party" I said, noticing that a lone, red-hooded figure was sitting on the steps seemingly ignored by everyone else. Kirito and I shuffled towards the figure.

"Hey, were you left out?" Kirito asked nicely.

"No. It's just... everybody seems to already know each other and I think I'd be a third wheel if I joined." the figure responded.

"Well you could join our party." I cheerfully chimed, before sending a party request message to the hooded figure. The figure had their finger hovering over the accept button before hitting it. Another health bar suddenly appeared beneath Kirito's health bar. One labelled Asuna.

"Everybody should be in a party. Now, I should probably lay some ground rules for this raid. Distribution of loot and money will be divided equally among everyone, the party that defeats the boss gets the EXP; and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" Diabel asked, looking around. No one spoke. "Good, then we'll meet tomorrow morning at 10:00 game time in here. Meeting adjourned!"

As soon as Diabel finished, people started to move out to their own respective homes. When the crowd cleared, we couldn't find Asuna anywhere. She had...disappeared.

 **~Town of the Ruins - 6:00pm Game Time~**

 **Kirito's POV**

Walking on one of the streets, Yuuki and I decided to buy one of those sourdough buns a NPC trader was selling for dinner. As we walked away from the trader, I noticed that Asuna, our new party member was sitting by herself on a bench near the village square. She was holding a sourdough bun and was slowly eating it, grimacing at its bland taste. Yuuki must've noticed her as well as I saw a flash of purple streak across my field of vision before seeing Yuuki sitting next to Asuna, casually chatting to her. I walked towards them.

"Hey Asuna!" Yuuki cheerfully chimed.

"How do you know my name?" Asuna asked, very confused how two strangers that she had just met an hour ago knew her name.

"You see the two small health bars beneath your name? Those are the health bars of the people in your party, which includes their name." I explained.

Asuna took another bite from her bun before slowly chewing, as if thinking about something. "So, your names are Yuuki and Kirito?" she asked as she viewed the secondary health bars.

"Yeah. Sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier today. That was rude of us." I apologised.

"Hey, you also have that sourdough bun. How is it?" Yuuki asked as she got hers out and eagerly unwrapped it. She took a big bite before gagging, painfully chewing it and swallowing. "Ugh, this is disgusting! Kirito, we've been ripped off by that NPC!" Yuuki exclaimed, drawing her sword as if she was going to charge at the NPC and demand her money back.

"Well, I do have a solution to its bland taste." I said, grabbing Yuuki's arm before she had the chance to rush off to the NPC. Getting out my own bun and a jar filled with a white substance, I set it down on the bench. "Try this, both of you." I advised. Yuuki looked at me suspiciously while Asuna decided to touch the lid, resulting in a magical circle surrounding her finger. She then hovered her hand over the bun, seeing the white substance appearing as she hovered her hand over a particular area. After spreading a bit, she tapped the lid again, deactivating the glow, before taking a bite of her bun once more. A sudden look of surprise appeared on Asuna's face.

"It's...cream..?" She asked, unsure if the white substance was what she thought it was.

"Yup, it's cream. Tastes so much better doesn't it? I got it from the quest 'The Heifer Strikes Back!'; it's a repeatable quest that comes from the previous village." I explained as I put the cream on my bun and started eating it. Yuuki, seeing Asuna's reaction, dropped her suspicious demeanour and hastily put cream on her bun. As she touched the lid of the jar for the second time, the jar exploded into a million small triangular pieces. Yuuki soon commenced eating her bun again, happy that the bun tasted so much better.

"Thanks for the cream, but I'm not here to eat good food." Asuna quietly said.

"Okay. Why are you here?" Yuuki asked as she finished her bun.

"I came here so that I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't want to lock myself in a room in the Town of Beginnings and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am till the last moment. Even if a monster beats me and I die, I won't lose to this game or this world, no matter what." Asuna said, staring at the floor.

"Well I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so try not to die on me. Both of you." I said.

"Well, it's getting late. I'll go back to my inn and prepare for tomorrow. Thank you, Kirito, Yuuki." Asuna said, getting up and starting to walk towards her inn.

I surveyed the town square and found Diabel arm-wrestling with Kibaou while other people from the raid party talked merrily with each other. I got up and stretched my arms as I looked back at Yuuki only to find her staring at me in a weird manner.

"Uh...Yuuki? Is something wrong?" I asked looking around to see if there was anything unusual.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Yuuki responded, with what I thought was a slight blush on her face. However, due to the dim lighting, I wasn't quite sure. I probably just imagined it. "C'mon, let's get back to our rooms. We've got an early start tomorrow." Yuuki continued as she got up and started to walk towards the inn we were staying in.

"Hey Yuuki, wait for me!" I shouted, running to catch up to her. When we reached the Salty Parrots; the inn we were staying in, Yuuki and I headed towards our respective rooms. "Hey Yuuki, we probably should wake up 8:00am tomorrow so that we won't be late." I said, before opening the door to my room.

"Sounds good Kirito. Good night!" Yuuki yawned before entering her room.

 _"Huh, that yawn was pretty cute. No. I need to focus and prepare for the boss raid tomorrow."_ I thought to myself as I checked my inventory, making sure I had enough potions. After doing a quick inventory check, I changed into my all-black pyjamas, before climbing onto my bed and going to sleep.

 **~ The Salty Parrots - The Next Day, 8:00am Game Time~**

I woke up as the alarm that I set for myself started beeping. I swiped my hand sideways to disable the alarm. Groaning, I got out of my bed and changed into my combat gear, before exiting my room. I knocked on Yuuki's door. "Yuuki, are you awake yet?" I asked, not sure if she had set an alarm yesterday or not.

"I'm awake now Kirito." a muffled voice answered grumpily.

"In that case, I'll wait for you downstairs." I said, before going down the stairs to the eating part of the inn. While I waited for Yuuki, I ordered a hot cup of utque-sedatis-viridi tea since it was cold. By the time Yuuki came down, I had already finished my tea and had ordered another one for Yuuki. "Well, you certainly do take your time Yuuki." I said, looking at her, trying to figure out what exactly took her so long.

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot to do an inventory check and so had to do that as well as getting changed." Yuuki sheepishly said, taking the still-warm cup of tea I offered and taking a drink.

 **~ Centurion Ruins - 9:59am Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Oh good, we just made it." Kirito panted as we reached the destination that we were meeting the rest of the raid party.

"Oh, there you guys are. I thought you guys ditched." Asuna commented in an amused tone as she walked towards us, still hooded. "Though, why are both of you panting? Did you run from a group of Pkers?" Asuna asked as she looked at us, slightly concerned.

"Well, we may have ran all the way from the Town of Ruins to here." I said, slowly recovering from the massive marathon we just did within an hour. Asuna only responded by bursting into laughter.

"Everybody here?" Diabel asked, scanning the crowd to see if anyone was missing. "No? Then let's go!"

As we were walking through the forest towards the tower structure which housed the boss room, Kirito was giving us a last minute briefing.

"So, our job in this boss raid is to take care of the minions and help any other group that needs help with their job. I think what we'll do is a tag-team combo. I'll use my sword skills to parry their weapons away and you two can switch in and finish them off." Kirito explained.

"Wait. Switch? What does that mean?" I asked. I could tell Asuna didn't know either since she also had a puzzled expression.

"Okay, a switch is just when we swap around. So in simple terms, I knock away their weapons, then I'll back out while you jump in and take them out. Capiche?" Kirito explained as if it were something simple.

"Okay. I get it." Asuna and I said together.

 **~Outside the Boss Room, 20 minutes later~**

"Okay everybody, we are here! I only have two things I need to say before we go in. Today, we show everyone trapped here that clearing this game isn't impossible. Today we give hope to those who have previously lost hope. Now, let's go clear this floor!" Diabel shouted before opening the boss room's doors and charging in.

The room was dark at first, seemingly empty. Suddenly, a giant monster with red eyes seemed to awaken at the far end of the room. As soon as it stood up, the room light up into a hall with colourful mosaics while Kobold Ruin Sentinels spawned around the boss; Illfang the Kobold Lord.

"Okay this is it. Squad A, tank the boss! Squad B, take the minions out on the left flank! Squad C, stop talking and cover our right flank! Squad D and E, when Squad A tanks the boss' hit, we attack. Squad F, cover Squad D and E while they attack!" Diabel ordered as the boss leaped from its spawn point towards us. "Okay Squad A, get ready to tank!" Diabel yelled as Squad B and C moved in to intercept the flow of Kobold Ruin Sentinels from either side. The boss gave a massive roar before swinging at Squad A. Squad A immediately held out their shields. The sound of metal clanging on the ground could be heard as the tanks braced for the boss' attack. Squad A absorbed the boss' hit, knocking the boss back. As soon as Illfang stumbled backwards, Diabel along with Squad D and E charged at the boss.

"Come on Kirito, we need to cover Diabel and his squads" I yelled as I drew my sword, running towards them. Kirito only nodded his head in acknowledgement before engaging a Kobold Ruin Sentinel that had sneaked through the left flank. Kirito's sword glowed orange just before he parried the sentinel's mace, sending the stone mace flying out of its hand.

"Yuuki, switch!" He yelled before jumping backwards. I lunged forwards, my sword glowing crimson as I slashed at the sentinel twice.

"Asuna, switch!" I yelled as the sentinel staggered backwards. I flipped over the sentinel and engaged with another sentinel that had appeared. Asuna held her rapier back before activating her weapon skill, piercing through the sentinel and shattering it into a million pieces. _"Wow. Asuna's technique is perfect."_ I thought as I parried another attack from an oncoming sentinel. "Kirito, switch!"

"I've got it!" Kirito yelled, flicking his sword with his wrist. He ran towards the sentinel as I sidestepped, his sword glowing a violent shade of red before performing a series of slashes, leaving massive gashes on the chest of the sentinel. The sentinel exploded. We continued to work as a trio, taking down any Kobold Ruins Sentinel that had gotten past the right and left flanks.

After ten minutes, Illfang the Kobold Lord gave a massive roar as his last health bar dropped into the red zone. The boss tossed aside its buckler and axe and drew a long, club like sword.

"Stand back, I've got this!" Diabel yelled as he charged at the boss. Diabel held his shield out, ready to block any oncoming attack from the boss.

"Wait! Diabel! That's not a talwar, that's a Nodachi!" I hear Kirito yell. However, it seemed that Kirito had given the warning a moment too late as the boss had commenced its own sword skill, leaping around the top of the pillars; they were supporting the roof, before dive-bombing at Diabel. Diabel was knocked back from the boss' initial strike. By the time he recovered, the boss had dashed at him, its sword glowing a golden colour before rapidly slashing at Diabel's body, completely shredding his health bar. With one final blow, Diabel was flung towards the far side of the room. I saw a flash of navy blue in my vision before realising that Kirito was running towards Diabel. He offered a health potion but Diabel pushed his hand back before whispering something to Kirito. Then, he died, his body exploding into a thousand tiny shards as Kirito watched in shock.

"Oh crap, somebody help us!" Squad A and B yelled as the boss turned around to face them. Kirito got up, seemingly glaring at the boss.

"Yuuki, Asuna! Let's finish this!" I heard Kirito yell before he lunged at the boss, using a sword skill to deflect the boss' attack on Squad A and B. "SWITCH!"

I bolted over, holding my sword behind my back, waiting for my sword to glow purple. As it did, I ran forward, thrusting at the boss before yelling "SWITCH!" and rolling underneath the boss' legs. Asuna ran forward and gave four rapid jabs at the boss before Kirito jumped in and slashed at the boss. When his sword stuck to the boss' body, he dragged his sword along the body of the boss, before breaking free of the boss' body when it had gone right through the head of the boss. With a massive groan, the boss staggered back as its health bar depleted to zero, before exploding into a million pieces. Then, everybody started cheering.

 **Kirito's POV**

A congratulations message popped up in front of everyone as they received another smaller message detailing what they had earned. As for me, I got a message detailing how I got the last hit bonus, giving me an item known as the Midnight Coat. I looked at the message with a numb feeling in my body. _"_ _We lost Diabel. It was only the first_ _floor too. At this rate, how costly would it be to clear floors?"_ I thought, saddened at the loss of Diabel, one of the only good beta testers who had actively tried to help other people stuck in this death gam _e._

"Wait. Everybody. Stop cheering! So Kirito, why did you let Diabel die?" Kibaou suddenly yelled, snapping me back into reality.

"Let him die?" I asked, really confused on how Kibaou had come to such a conclusion.

"You heard me. You knew about the boss' technique. Heck, you even named his weapon at first glance. So why didn't you tell us. If you did, Diabel wouldn't have died! He would be standing with us, celebrating!" Kibaou angrily answered.

"I know how he knew. He was a beta tester! Think about it! He knew the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta-tester here! Come on, show yourselves!" another player added.

 _"This is getting bad..."_ I thought.

 **~Flashback~**

 _"Lead them Kirito. Show them that this game can be beaten. Show that as long as we work together, nothing is impossible" Diabel said before coughing, glowing brighter and brighter before he burst into small shards of light._

 **~End Flashback~**

I laughed cynically.

"A beta tester? Please don't put me in the same category as those noobs. When the beta-test first started, most of the beta-testers barely knew how to swing a sword. You guys are way better than them. As for me. I cleared more floors than any of the beta-testers. Yeah, I knew about the boss since I've fought way harder bosses with demon scythes and flying fireball minions." I said, walking right past the crowd of players.

"What?! In that case, you are worse than a beta-tester. You are a damn cheater!" Kibaou said, shocked at what I had just openly declared.

"He's a beta-tester and a cheater! He's a Beater!" a player added.

"Huh. That's a nice name. A Beater. That's cool. Just don't ever relate me to those beta scrubs." I said, equipping my Midnight Coat. I walked towards the exit of the boss room.

"Wait, Kirito! You can't be serious. We are a team!" Yuuki yelled after me, running towards me.

"No we're not Yuuki. Not anymore. Look, Yuuki, Asuna. You can grow powerful and strong in here. But there are still limits to what a solo player can do. So when the time comes where someone you trust invites you to a guild, don't reject it." I said softly, before walking through the doorway, heading towards the next level.

"Kirito what about you?" I heard Yuuki ask in a concerned tone.

But by then, I was already on floor 2.

* * *

 **Whew! That was long!** **o_0**

 **This one was slightly longer and more ramble-ly than what I wanted it to be** **….t** **hings are going to get interesting soon.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and as usual, feel free to give me a pm or leave a comment for feedback and advice.**

 **I'll see you with the next chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater next week!**

 **Peace be with you!**

 **~Herosassin**


	4. Chapter 4: Shattered Vision

**AN: Time for another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater.**

 **Just a warning (Do I need one though?):** **This chapter is slightly darker than usual. It involves Episode 3 and 4 (and you know how dark they sorta end up).  
This means that this chapter briefly explores the theme of suicide and depression. You have been warned.**

 **If you are considering suicide, you should contact your local suicide prevention hotline. No matter how bad things seem, there's always a way out not involving death.**

 **As always, hope you enjoy the chapter, and feel free to leave reviews or reviews to give me feedback!**

* * *

 **~Floor 11 Labyrinth, April 8** **th** **2023~**

 **Kirito's POV**

 _It's been a few months since I've seen Yuuki. After that Beater incident, I've been trying to lay low, grinding in high level floors, trying to get stronger. I still feel as if there's a gap in my heart, like a piece of my soul is missing. But that's just the loneliness. I'll get over it. I need to. I helped unite the players of this world, gave them courage that this game is beatable. But the cost was my reputation. That was a price that I was willing to pay for. I have been shunned, mocked, feared. I left my friends to spare them of a similar fate. Perhaps I was wrong. But I'll get over it. Eventually._

I walked alone in this floor's labyrinth, hoping to find more monsters to fight. As I walked past the crystal pillars decorating the labyrinth, I saw a group of players up ahead fighting some of those skeletons with flaming swords. The tank of the group, a knight dressed in dark shades of purple seemed to be taking a beating while the rest of the group tried to damage the monster but to no avail. I used my vision skill to analyse their situation. The tank was in the red health zone while the rest of the crew looked like they would be wiped out pretty quickly without their tank. They only wore light armour; perhaps that was to improve their agility, and held an assortment of weapons such as daggers, swords and spears.

" _They won't be able to survive this encounter."_ I concluded, drawing my sword, readying myself to charge in. My sword sprung to life, glowing neon blue as I ran towards the group, sword in my hand. I ran straight into the fight where I unleashed a series of sword strokes onto the back of the skeleton, absolutely destroying it. The monster fell apart before exploding into a million glowing prisms, floating towards the roof of the labyrinth as I sheathed my sword.

"Are you guys ok?" I asked, looking at the group I just saved. They were a group of 5, dressed in an assortment of colours. Either this was just a group of friends partying together or they were a low-level guild without the money to purchase guild-standard uniforms.

"My name's Keita and thank you for saving my guild, the Moonlit Black Cats." the player dressed in brown introduced. "Would you mind if we asked you to escort us out of here?" Keita asked.

 **~The Fallen Knights, Floor 11 – Taft~**

"To Kirito, the saviour of the Moonlit Black Cats!" the members of the Moonlit Black Cats cheered, holding out their cups towards me.

"Thanks, but it was nothing really. I just wanted to help you guys out." I explained, slightly embarrassed by the huge deal they made out of me saving them.

"Say, Kirito. I was wondering if you would join our guild. See, we want to be part of the Clearers that have been clearing floors left and right. But we aren't strong enough. But with you and your knowledge, we believe that we'll be able to be strong enough to join the Clearers. Will you help us achieve this vision?" Keita asked, sincerely believing that I was the solution to their currently fractured vision, cracked by their lack of strength. I looked around the table that was dedicated to the Moonlit Black Cats. All of them had their hopes and dreams displayed in their eyes as they looked at me with hopeful looks.

"How can I say no? I'll join." I decided, only to be hugged by my new guildmates.

"Welcome to the Moonlit Black Cats, future Clearer guild, Kirito!" a member dressed in blue welcomed.

 **~Floor 14 Boss Meeting – Same Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Where is he!? I can't find him anywhere." I yelled as I scanned through the crowd of players who were leaving the boss strategy meeting.

"Maybe he's taking a break somewhere else? I mean, we haven't even seen him since floor 1." my friend Asuna suggested, glancing over my shoulder.

"Knowing him, he wouldn't. I thought I would've seen him today in the boss strategy meeting. Or any other boss meeting since floor 2." I said, a sad tone evident in my voice.

"Well, at least he's not dead. We checked the Monument of Life, his name hasn't been crossed out. Hold onto hope Yuuki. He'll come back." said Asuna, clearly noticing my sadness and disappointment.

"Thanks, Asuna. I should probably go back and get ready for the boss raid. See you tomorrow!" I told Asuna as I walked back to the inn I was staying in.

" _Ever since Kirito left, I've been trying to find him, to convince him to drop the madness he was trying to pursue. I knew why he left us and why he drew attention to himself, leading to him being named the 'Beater'. Even with these reasons, it still tore my heart that he would leave me behind. One of my only friends in this world, the person who saved my life and the person who taught me how to survive in this world. Now bearing the burden that wasn't rightly his."_ I sighed. _"Well, at least he's alive. I'll find him again someday. He promised."_ I thought as I dropped onto my bed.

 **~Floor 19 – Main Settlement: Lunam, a few months later~**

 **Kirito's POV**

I watched as my guildmates happily discussed the state of our guild. Since a few months ago, this guild had progressed a lot. While there was still some progress to be made before joining the Clearers, they were definitely improving. We all decided to take today off to celebrate the guild's successful looting expedition. As we relaxed, I noticed how open and social I had become, with a group of people who I now call friends.

" _I wonder how the floor clearing effort is going. More importantly, how is Yuuki doing?"_ I thought as I watched Sachi tackle Keita to the ground while the other guildmates laughed. A pang of guilt hit my heart as soon as I thought about Yuuki.  
 _"I really regret leaving Yuuki behind. But I didn't want to let the community ostracise her. I hope she'll be able forgive me one day."_

"Hey Kirito! Are you there?" Keita asked as he waved his hand in front of me.

"Yeah Keita. What's up?" I responded as I returned back to reality.

"As I was saying, we are getting close to buying our first guild headquarters. Perhaps a few more months and then we'll be able to get one." Keita addressed our guild. "So, let's keep grinding. We'll make it to the Clearers soon."

 **~Later at night~**

While I was just checking through my inventory, I suddenly received a message from Keita. "Kirito, could you help me find Sachi? She's been gone for a few hours and I'm worried about her."

"Sure." I messaged back before heading towards the streets. Turning on the guild tracking skill, I was able to soon find Sachi huddled against a wall underneath a stone bridge. "Sachi? Are you okay?" I asked walking towards her. Sachi lifted her head and looked at my direction.

"Kirito." she responded. Her voice sounded sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked, curious to see why she was sad.

"It's just…. I'm afraid of dying. What's the point of even playing when the risks of dying are so great. I just want to get away…from the Moonlit Cats, from this stupid game…." Sachi said softly.

"You're not thinking about suicide, are you?" I asked, concerned for Sachi's wellbeing. I sat down next to her.

"Well, I wouldn't be in a safe zone if I was considering suicide?" Sachi sarcastically responded. "I just…. I don't want to die. I keep having nightmares about dying. I can't even sleep." Sachi whimpered.

"You're not going to die. The Moonlit Black Cats are a strong guild that doesn't tackle what they can't handle. We're going to make it to the end. You'll be able to go back to the real life. Keep your hopes and dreams with you. Never give up. You've already died if you give up." I said, trying to comfort Sachi.

"Thanks Kirito." Sachi whispered before putting her head onto my shoulders. "Anyway, I think I should return to the inn. Keita is probably super worried." Sachi said as she headed towards the inn. I walked with her.

 **~Floor 27, Main Settlement: Ronbaru, two months later~**

"Ok guys, we finally have enough to purchase our first headquarters!" Keita announced. We all cheered. After months of hard work, we were finally ready to take another step closer to being in the Assault Team. I'll meet you guys back here soon." Keita excitedly said. He moved to the warp gate and yelled: "Floor 1, Town of Beginnings!" Soon, he disappeared.

"Come on guys! Let's get some more money to buy furniture!" Ducker advised.

"Good idea Ducker!" Sachi replied, hyped that we were going to get our first guild house.

"We can go to Floor 29 where we can have fast and very plentiful farming!" Ducker suggested.

"Shouldn't we stick to our usual grinding spots? I feel that floor is a bit out of our skill level." I cautioned.

"It should be fine. Besides, we have teleport crystals. We can get out of a sticky spot with them." Ducker nonchalantly answered.

 **~Floor 29 Labyrinth~**

"Huh this seems so easy." Sachi commented as we walked through the empty corridors of the Labyrinth. Ducker somehow tripped and held his hands in front of him to break his fall. When his hands made contact with the wall, a slab of wall next to him opened up revealing a treasure chest in a hidden room.

"Would you look at that! Hidden loot! I wonder what we'll get from it." Ducker and the rest of the guild rushed into the room.

"Wait! Guys! It might be a trap!" I warned as I stepped into the room with them.

But it was too late. Ducker had opened the chest which triggered some sort of trap that not only sealed the room, but started to emit klaxon alarm sounds. The whole room flashed red as hordes of monsters spawned, surrounding us.

"Damn it, it was a trap!" Ducker yelled.

"Teleport Ronbaru! Telepor-" Ducker was suddenly impaled by a pickaxe as he unsuccessfully tried to teleport out of the room. The dwarven monster waited until Ducker had died before twirling its pickaxe menacingly at us.

"What the heck is this?" Sachi yelled. "Why won't it let us teleport away!?"

"I think this room was designed this way." I said, drawing my sword.

Our tank tried to hold off the monsters but was pummelled within seconds. He too joined Ducker into the abyss, his avatar shattering into a million pieces. Sachi counter-attacked, successfully killing two monsters while I cleaved through the monsters, trying to free us from this trap.

"Kirito, I-" Sachi began before she was hit with a pickaxe; its head sticking through her body. "I-It's n-not y-your f-f-faul-" Sachi's body glowed white before shattering.

"No!" I screamed as I went completely berserk, trashing the monsters in the trap room.

When all the monsters had been cleared, I collapsed onto the floor, tears running down my face. _"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have hidden my status as a beater. They would've listened to me otherwise. I'm the one at fault. Anyone I work with dies. First Diablo, now the Moonlit Black Cats."_ I thought hopelessly as I stared at the crystalline blue floor.

 **~Floor 27, Main Settlement: Ronbaru~**

"All of them, dead!?" Keita gasped in shock as I told him what happened. "And you were a dirty beater all along. No. I can't accept this. You are the reason why my guild is dead. You've shattered our hopes and dreams, you've ended up killing those who you work with. Damn you, you no-good beater!" Keita snarled at me. "I…. I'm going to join my friends." Keita said, shock and horror still in his voice. With that, he climbed the railing of the sky balcony and jumped.

"Wait, no!" I started but Keita had already taken the leap to join his friends. "No." I whispered, giving up to the guilt that was pulsing in my heart. I covered my face with my hands, tears trailing down my face and sat there, bitterly thinking how everything was my fault.

 **~Floor 31, The Lost Souls (Inn), Christmas Eve (a few months later)~**

"It seems like someone's gone a lil' bit suicidal with their levelling." Argo said. "Maybe you should tone down the grinding. It's no use if you die at the end."

"You got anything for me Argo?" I asked coldly.

"Nah. Nothing new." Argo responded.

"That's rather odd for an info broker." I responded.

"Hey! It's a first-time event. All I know is that a Christmas-themed boss will appear tonight on Christmas Eve, in a location sealed off by fir trees. It's rumoured to give a revival item and so all the major guilds are looking for it." Argo explained. "You know where it is don't you?" Argo guessed, looking at my eyes to see if they give away anything.

"Perhaps." I said.

"You're not going to solo it, are you? That's suicide. An item like that isn't worth your life!" Argo exclaimed, shocked that I was planning to solo the boss.

"Maybe I will. Thanks for the information Argo. Merry Christmas. In advance." With that, I walked away.

 **~Floor 49, Kirito's Room, one hour before event starts~**

I go through my inventory one last time. It was stacked with health potions. I equip all my new items, including a new and improved midnight coat, a black sword with a pale blue cross-guard and a set of new boots. _"Tonight, is the night that I avenge my fallen friends. People whose deaths are my fault. This is my burden and it shall be lifted tonight. I will revive them, and right my wrongs."_

 **~Floor 49, Forest of Wanderings, Spawn point of the boss~**

A group of players teleported behind me onto the snowy landscape.

"Hey, Kirito!" Klein called out.

"You followed me huh?" I responded, not turning around.

"You're after the revival item too huh?" Klein asked.

"Yeah." I responded.

"You're planning to solo it. Don't. It's not worth soloing a boss for an item that might be fake. You can't mess around in this world. Once you die, you die for good. No reviving. You die, your brain gets melted in real…"

"Shut up Klein." I interrupted harshly. "Why are you even here?"

"I'm here to talk you out of the stupid soloing plan you have. Join us, even if it's just a party for this event. Whoever kills it gets it, no hard feelings." Klein explained.

"No. I have to do it." I said. _"It's the only way I'll be able to right my wrongs against them."_ I thought silently. I heard the sound of multiple teleportations around us. "It seems like someone else followed you Klein." I said.

"Oh crap. It's the Holy Dragon Alliance. I heard they are willing to do shady stuff just to get a rare item." One of Klein's guild members said.

"Dammit. Kirito, you go! My guild and I can handle this." Klein yelled.

"No, I'll hel-" I started.

"No Kirito. Just do it, we'll be fine." Klein shot back.

"Thank you." I said before running off into the fir trees, entering through a secret entrance into the boss room.

A massive, decorated pine tree stood before me. I heard a clock-tower chime 12 times in the distance before an ugly troll dressed in an outfit that looks like Santa fell from the sky and confronted me. I drew my sword from my sheath and held it in a guard stance. My sword ignited with an ominous crimson red glow. I charged in, dodging the boss' attacks as I rapidly slashed at every exposed part of the boss.

 **~30 minutes later~**

 **Klein's POV**

My guild and I were resting on the snowy floor, recovering from the massive battle we had with the Holy Dragon Alliance. We didn't kill anyone but we did severely injure them to the point where they retreated. I suddenly saw a black figure walk towards our direction.

"Kirito, how did it go?" I asked. Kirito simply threw a stone at me in response. I caught it and inspected it. It had an engraving which read _Soulraiser_.

"The revival item is real alright. But it is only applicable within a ten second window of the person dying. Keep it Klein. Whenever someone is dying in front of you someday, use it. Don't let them die in front of you." Kirito said with a defeated and weary tone.

"Kirito... Listen. Stay alive, you hear? I don't care how you do it. Just stay alive, to the end!" I exclaimed.

"I got that Klein. Thanks…. for everything." Kirito walked towards the exit of the forest, a lone black figure, disappearing into the night.

 **Kirito's POV**

When I got back to my room, I collapsed onto my bed, disappointed and beaten. I thought about it for a bit before deciding that I was going to attempt to solo Floor 50's boss or die trying; that there was no longer a point for me to live any longer and bear with the burden. As I thought about this, a ping sounded and a message appeared in front of me. An item, a recording Memo-Sphere was placed in front of me. I opened it, curious to see what it was. An image of Sachi appeared and started speaking.

Merry Christmas, Kirito! By the time you hear this, I'll probably be dead. How can I explain this, let's see... to tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings. And I knew if I fought with an attitude like that, I would end up dying someday. But that's not anyone's fault.

That's something I have to deal with. Kirito, ever since that night you found me, you kept telling me I wasn't going to die, no matter what. But what if I got killed anyway? I knew that if I died, you'll blame yourself. That's why I decided to record this for you. By the way, I know how powerful you really are. Sorry. I sort of peeked when you weren't looking. I wondered why you weren't telling the truth about what level player you really were. I wondered why you decided to fight with us. I never figured it out though. You know what? When I found out how strong you were, I don't know, it made me so happy.

I was so relieved. So even if I die, promise me you'll go on living, okay, Kirito? Stay alive, so you can see the end of this world, and find out why it was created. Find out why a weakling like me ended up here. Find out the reason you and I met. Please. That's what I wish. Remember what you said to me when you found me, contemplating suicide? 'Keep your hopes and dreams with you. Never give up. You've already died if you give up.' Don't give up. I don't blame you, nor does anyone else. Live and carry on the legacy of the Moonlit Black Cats."

The Memo-Sphere collapsed as the recorded message finished.

" _Thank you Sachi. I'll hold onto my hopes and dreams. I'll hold on for Yuuki. I'll hold onto the hope that I'll be able to clear this game and return to my sister. And I'll clear this game to avenge you all."_

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Hey Yuuki, stop sulking. I might've found something that might show us where Kirito is." Asuna said as she opened the door to my room. I turned towards her, a hopeful gleam in my eye.

"How?" I asked my friend as she opened her menu.

"You have Kirito as your friend, in your friendlist, right?" Asuna asked as she scrolled through her own friends list.

"Yeah…." I said, not sure why Asuna would ask that.

"If so, you can do this to find where he is." Asuna continued, showing me a map of Floor 27 where Kirito supposedly was.

"That's Kirito?" I asked.

"Yes. It is. It's really interesting what the friend function in this game can do. You can message them, find their location and see their stats. You can thank Argo for discovering this." Asuna said, sitting next to me; I was sitting on the side of my bed.

"Thank you Asuna." I said before hugging the red-haired girl.

* * *

 **And that is chapter 4. Again, it's a bit Kirito-centric, quite sorry about that. But I couldn't figure out a better way to write it where it fits my storyline.**

 **For the next 2-3 weeks there might be uploads but not guaranteed. I know, it sucks but I need to study for finals so...yeah. I mean, I could give you unedited versions of my next chapters but I prefer quality over quantity and I think you'll agree. So, sorry for this. After those two weeks, I'll be back on the weekly upload schedule.**

 **Anyway, as usual feel free to leave reviews and feedback to help me improve.**

 **I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Peace be with you all!**

 **~Herosassin**

* * *

 **EDIT: Chapter 5 preview for those who check reread/check my stories every so often. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

 **Mother's Rosario**

~Floor 50, Fuming Forrest, 10:00am Game Time~

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Left. Right. Left. Parry. Strike." I thought as I weaved through a monster's attack, dodging its poison filled blade before parrying it with a sword skill and hitting its exposed body. The purple zombie warrior snarled as I hit it before aggressively swinging at me. "Time to use my new strategy". I ducked when the zombie thrust its sword at me, rolling through its legs before slashing at its back. I then dashed to the left, completely avoiding the monster's poisonous counter attack before hitting its arms then jumping above it, twirling my whole body through the air, slashing the zombie's head as I twirled before landing on the ground and thrusting my sword into the chest of the zombie before it could react. The monster exploded as its health dropped to zero, leaving behind a trail of multicoloured triangles.

Distantly, I could hear the sound of footsteps; the loud crunching of leaves coming from behind me. I turned around. "Come out, wherever you are hiding. I won't hurt you, I just want to know who you are." I shouted, putting my sword in a guard stance, a sword skill active just in case a Pker was waiting to ambush me. A figure emerged from the shadows. Dressed in all black, the figure looked menacing, dressed in an attire most Pkers favour. "Stay back." I warned, readying myself to attack the figure in black. The figure did nothing but stepped forward into the light.

* * *

 **EDIT 2: Chapter 5 preview 2**

* * *

...

"The skill is called Phantasmal Shift. It's a skill that is unlocked at level 70. It changes the physical properties of the user's sword into a corporeal being that can quite literally go through almost anything; swords, shields, but not armour. It is very tricky to use. I almost died when trying to get used to it."

...

I attacked a Zombie Corporal, this time concentrating on its attacks and when it would open its guard. The Zombie Corporal swung its pale white longsword at me which was greeted with my dark purple sword. I parried its attack, sending the longsword away from my sword before stabbing the zombie. I quickly withdrew my blade and sidestepped to the left, just narrowly missing its counter attack, which involved a sword uppercut that would've sliced me in half had I not side stepped. Spotting an opening, I swung my sword at its exposed side, lowering the monster's health to the red zone. I ducked just as the zombie retaliate once again in vain, lunging at where I was with its sword. Using my sword, I made a clean cut through its legs, severing them from its body. The zombie gave a deafening scream before collapsing into a pile of pixels that floated towards the clear skies of Aincrad. A message appeared in front of me.

Congratulations!

You have levelled up to [Level 70]

You have gained:

7 Additional Stat Points

Skill [Phantasmal Shift]

Passive Skill [Weapon Disarm]

Opening my menu, I allocated 3 of my stat points into my CRIT which increased it to 735, 2 to AGI which was now 723 and the remaining to STR which was now 717.

"Well, I'm level 70 now!" I exclaimed happily.


	5. Chapter 5: Mother's Rosario

**AN: Hey. To compensate for me not updating due to finals, I'm posting this extra-long chapter. While I was studying, I read a couple of other awesome SAO stories which inspired me to add more changes to the story line as well as adding technical description for more clarity/engagement.**

 **2,000+ views! _Celebration!_ I'm glad so many enjoy my story!**

 **Thank you to Akira44, jorrdy12 and all my other followers, and readers. I really hope you enjoy what I write...**

 **Anyway, I'm back with another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater. The previous chapter was slightly dark. This one will be more cheerful.**

 **This chapter is a combination of three drafted chapters I had. So in a sense, there are three sections in this mega-chapter:**

 **Chapter 5 Pt 1: Destined Re-encounter**

 **Chapter 5 Pt 2: Guardian of Flames**

 **Chapter 5 Pt 3: Mother's Rosario**

 **Anyway, Thank you for all your support. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **~Floor 50, Fuming Forrest, 10:00am Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

" _Left. Right. Left. Parry. Strike."_ I thought as I weaved through a monster's attack, dodging its poison filled blade before parrying it with a sword skill and hitting its exposed body. The purple zombie warrior snarled as I hit it before aggressively swinging at me. _"Time to use my new strategy"_. I ducked when the zombie thrust its sword at me, rolling through its legs before slashing at its back. I then dashed to the left, completely avoiding the monster's poisonous counter attack before hitting its arms then jumping above it, twirling my whole body in a 360-degree motion through the air, slashing the zombie's head as I twirled before landing on the ground and thrusting my sword into the chest of the zombie before it could react. The monster exploded as its health dropped to zero, leaving behind a trail of multicoloured triangles.

Distantly, I could hear the sound of footsteps; the loud crunching of leaves coming from behind me. I turned around. "Come out, wherever you are hiding. I won't hurt you, I just want to know who you are." I shouted, putting my sword in a guard stance, a sword skill active just in case a Pker was waiting to ambush me. A figure emerged from the shadows. Dressed in all black, the figure looked menacing, dressed in an attire most Pkers favour. "Stay back." I warned, readying myself to attack the figure in black. The figure said nothing but stepped forward into the light. "Kirito? Kirito!" I yelled, crash tackling him to the ground.

"H-Hey Yuuki. Long time no see." Kirito puffed as he struggled against my tackle.

"Why were you acting so shiftily? You actually scared me! I could've hurt you!" I angrily responded, getting back to my feet and glaring daggers at him.

"Well, I was watching you fight and was waiting to see if you needed any help. Though it seems like you don't need any help at all. You fought quite well." Kirito answered, rubbing his head with his hand before getting up.

"Anyway, where were you for the past months?! Do you know how worried I was? I thought you died!" I asked him, bombarding him with questions.

"Well…. I was…. grinding." Kirito said hesitantly, a seemingly sad look clouding his face. Seeing his response to my question, I decided to drop it.

"Well, I'm glad you're ok. Can I party with you?" I asked Kirito, trying to cheer him up.

"…"

"Please?" I pleaded, giving him puppy eyes. A pained look flashed across Kirito's face before he finally responded.

"Well….ok."

"Yay! Do you want to keep grinding?" I asked cheerfully as I eagerly hit the confirm button on Kirito's party request.

"I guess. I'll lead the way then, Yuuki." Kirito said before walking off, further towards the forest.

" _Something has happened to him. He doesn't seem as cheerful or happy as he was when I last saw him."_ I thought as I walked behind him through the polluted forest landscape, looking around to see if there were any monsters or players waiting to ambush us. _"Well, at least I found him."_ I had been wandering this floor, searching for Kirito. Asuna's find about the use of the friend list helped me narrow down Kirito's location to this floor but it didn't display where exactly he was. Before Kirito found me, I had just been wandering around this floor, clearing monsters, searching for him.

"Yuuki, a little help?" I heard Kirito say in an alarmed tone. I turned back towards Kirito only to find his sword drawn and four hooded figures with flowing black cloaks surrounding him. I unsheathed my pale violet sword before running to Kirito's side.

"Well, who do we have here?" one of the hooded figures rasped. "Kirito, the beater and a little girl in violet." The figure continued, drawing his katana and holding it in front of him. The three other figures followed suit.

"Who are you calling a little girl huh?!" I yelled back, activating one of my swords skills so that my blade glowed pale green.

"My apologies. A fiery little girl who probably can't fight. You'll just rely on Kirito to protect you." the figure sarcastically responded. "Anyway, I should stop talking and start killing." the figure snarled before maniacally laughing. Suddenly, all four hooded figures activated their sword skills. Their katanas glowed blood red as they slowly circled us. Suddenly, the hooded figures charged at us, slashing at us like the madmen they were. I parried one of the hooded figure's blade but before I had a chance to counterattack, another blade appeared seemingly from thin air towards me.

Clang! The crimson katana was blocked by Kirito's blade which happened to glow neon blue. I counter attacked, thrusting my sword at the abdomen of the hooded figure before taking it out to parry another blade. The hooded figure stumbled backwards, his health dropping to the yellow zone. Sidestepping to the left in order to avoid another strike, I noticed that Kirito was engaged in an intense fight with another hooded figure. I couldn't really see their blades; all I saw were flashes of red and blue dancing around in the air as they parried each other's strikes at what seemed like the speed of sound. I focused back at my fight with the three hooded figures. I kicked at one of the figures, my boot producing a solid thud as it hit the figure before using my sword to slash at him, sending him flying in the air. I watched as he hit the trunk of a tree, his health bar dropping to the red zone. The two figures seemed to attack more aggressively when they saw their friend go flying.

" _Left, right, duck. Right, left, parry."_ I thought as I fought the two figures. After parrying one of their sword skills with one of my own, I ran forward, jumping over their heads before twisting mid-air to allow myself to swing at their heads. They somehow managed to bloke my strike. I landed on the ground and crouched, slashing at their ankles with my glowing purple sword before kicking their legs, causing them to fall over. The hooded figures groaned as the fell on the floor, clutching their ankles.

I walked right past them, sword drawn as I approached the last hooded figure, who was fighting Kirito and losing. Kirito was battering the hooded figure's sword with blow after blow while the figure tried to block each strike, clumsily holding his sword out in front of him. Soon, his sword shattered as its durability ran out, leaving him empty handed.

"No, don't kill me!" the disarmed figure cried out as Kirito's sword hovered over him.

"Coward. Why do you kill people anyway?" Kirito said menacingly before sheathing his sword.

"Well, it's time to send you murdering scum to prison." I said, walking towards him.

"I think not." the hooded figure said darkly before lunging at Kirito, stabbing him with a dagger. Kirito opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The hooded figure (I still don't know how his hood hadn't been knocked off when fighting Kirito) laughed before kicking Kirito to the ground. Kirito fell unmoving onto the ground his hand still tightly clenching his sword. " _That dagger must have some sort of paralysis poison. One hit and I'm dead. That poison would render me defenceless."_ I growled angrily as I readied my sword.

"Well girly. Your time is up. Kirito can't protect you anymore." the hooded figure said, still holding his dagger.

"First of all, don't call me 'girly'. Secondly, look at your accomplices. I took them down with relative ease. I don't need Kirito to protect me." I responded angrily before charging at the figure, sword blazing purple. Within seconds my sword was in his chest. I watched as his health bar drop steadily. Before it hit the red zone, I grabbed his dagger and pricked him with it while extracting my sword from his chest. The hooded figure let out a strangled croak before collapsing on the floor unmoving. I quickly pricked the other hooded figures with the poisoned dagger, paralysing them. They too let out a strangled croak before collapsing motionless onto the ground, fingers twitching.

 **Kirito's POV**

I watched in awe as Yuuki quickly dealt with the Pker that had stabbed me with his poisoned knife. Yuuki walked towards me, opening her menu. A green crystal appeared in her hand. Yuuki continued to walk towards me, a smile on her face.

"Heal." Yuuki said, holding out the crystal towards me. A tingling sensation filled my body. The paralysis symbol on my health bar disappeared and my health went back up to full.

"Remind me not to anger you." I said jokingly before getting up and sheathing my sword. "So, what do we do with them?" I asked, gesturing towards the hooded figures lying motionless on the floor.

"Isn't it obvious? We'll send them to where they belong." Yuuki responded, grinning as if nothing had happened. Her sword glowed green as she spoke. Her blade sailed through the air and sliced through a purple slime monster which was sneaking up on one of the Pkers. I let out a sigh of relief.

"What? Did you really think I would harm these Pkers?" Yuuki exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.

"Sorta…" I admitted. "Wait. Shhh." I whispered, putting a lip over my mouth. "Do you hear something?"

Yuuki shook her head, looking at me as if I was insane. Suddenly, I could hear another rustling sound from the bushes near Yuuki. Yuuki spun around to the bushes and drew her sword, ready to attack anyone who jumped out of the bushes. Suddenly, a hooded figure jumped down from a nearby tree.

"Well, I should thank you for taking out my prey." the figure said, taking of their hood, revealing a white-haired person who looked a bit like me.

"Who are you? Another Pker?" I questioned, drawing my sword.

'No. I'm a green player. I just hunt Pkers and bring them to justice." The player said, pointing towards his cursor. Yuuki and I both looked at the cursor before sheathing our swords. "My name's Hiyoto or more well known as the Vindicator. Those Pkers you encountered have been a nuisance for quite some time. I was sent to capture them." Hiyoto stated, opening his menu to find something. Seconds later, a long coil of rope appeared in his hand. "Would you mind helping me tie up these murderers?"

Within two minutes, we had tied up the Pkers, who were still paralysed by the poison on the knife.

"Nasty stuff. Pkers favour the use of the Atropine, a very deadly poison that paralyses if it has contact with you at all. Dropped from the Nightshade Warriors on Floor 22, all a Pker has to do is to enhance the blade with the poison." Hiyoto explains as he holds the spiked knife in his hands.

"How do you deal with this poison? I mean, I assume you are a bounty hunter or something-like that." I asked, genuinely curious as to how the white-haired boy dealt with Pkers.

"Two ways. I have an amulet that absorbs any debuff cast onto me for 2 minutes. It's sort of like an immunity shield of sorts. Secondly, they can't hit me. My AGI is 700/1000 well above the average player's AGI. Since most Pkers only enhance their knives with the Atropine poison; the poison is a very rare drop from Nightshade Warriors and one dosage is only good for a small knife, I can deflect any incoming knife attack or dodge it. And even if they have a sword or something with longer reach, my amulet protects me." Hiyoto explained as he got a large blue teleport crystal from his inventory and set it on the ground.

"Teleport Black Iron Castle Prison!" Hiyoto yelled before standing back. The paralysed Pkers were suddenly enveloped by a bright white light before fading into nothingness, transferred by the system to the prison where rule breakers go.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why do you hunt Pkers?" Yuuki asked.

"Someone needs to take care of those who murder. They killed someone I knew on Floor 12 a few months ago. And nobody helped bring them to justice. I decided to bring them and everyone like them to justice." Hiyoto said sombrely, his eyes smudged with sadness.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Yuuki said.

"Anyway, I should thank you for helping me with the Pkers. If you don't mind me asking, when you are free, would you be willing to help me capture some orange/red players from time to time?" Hiyoto asked, his hand swiping through the air.

"Sure, I don't see why not." I said nonchalantly. Yuuki nodded in agreement with my statement.

"Awesome! I probably should friend request you two just in case then." Hiyoto sent both of us friend requests.

* * *

[Player Hiyoto] has sent a friend request to you.

Do you wish to accept?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

My finger tapped on the 'Yes' button, accepting the friend request.

"Well, I'll be seeing you around then!" Hiyoto said, putting on his black hood while taking out another smaller blue teleport crystal. Soon, a white light consumed Hiyoto before he disappeared.

"Well, he was an interesting guy." Yuuki commented, looking slightly amused.

"I'm glad that some people are bringing these Pkers to justice." I responded, a small smile on my face.

"Anyway, you're going to go with me to the floor boss meeting no matter what Kirito. I don't care what you say, I'll drag you there if you say otherwise!" Yuuki said in an authoritative voice.

"Geez, I wasn't going to object. Honest!" I complained before following Yuuki back to wherever the floor boss meeting was held at.

 **~Floor 50, Knights of the Blood Oath Guildhall – Floor 50 Boss Meeting, 3:00pm – Game Time~**

"Ok, from the scout parties, we know that this floor's boss is Eldridiia, Guardian of the Flames. She looks like a normal player dressed in a bright orange cloak and a crimson dress but has 6 health bars and carries a pitch-black scythe with a crimson blade. She has very high AGI which means she will be very agile. She can summon minions known as 'Raging Flame Spirits' who fly around and act as suicide bombers. They target the weakest player and inflict several debuffs including burning, stun, DEF down and a new debuff known as 'Marked for Death'. Back to Eldridiia, from what the scout party saw, she has two basic attacks, swinging her scythe sideways in a sweeping motion before retracting it and fire blasting whoever is unlucky enough to be dragged in, and smashing the butt of her scythe towards someone before leaping into the air and throwing a barrage of fire balls in the same direction. I suspect that she will follow the trend of the Floor 25's boss and be unusually powerful. I expect heavy casualties." Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath explained.

"This means that tanks will have to be wary of this boss since her entire build seems to revolve around decimating tanks." Lind, a knight dressed in silver plate-armour and leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance continued, opening a map of the boss room.

"I suggest using evasion build tanks with high DEF and AGI, they can easily aggro her while avoiding her attacks." another person suggested.

"That's a good idea but what concerns me is the new 'Marked for Death' debuff. From the name, it sounds like an instant 100% aggro or taunt for the boss. If it is what I think it is, then we can almost guarantee that the minions are going to go for our DPS who are weaker. That means that evasion tanks won't be much use if the aggro is redirected to whoever has the MFD debuff." Asuna pointed out.

"Maybe we should have some proper tanks going alongside our DPS to defend against them then." Lind suggested.

"That still doesn't help if the DPS gets hit with the MFD debuff!" Asuna countered, slamming her hand on the table.

Heathcliff, the grey-haired knight in blood red armour and a white cap sighed.

"Why don't we have some evasion tanks from the Holy Dragon Alliance while our tanks from the Knights of the Blood Oath defend our 3 DPS groups which will consist of Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna and Hiyoto, the Fuurinkazan guild and the Zero Requiem guild." Healthcliff suggested.

A murmur of agreement spread out throughout the raid meeting.

"It is agreed then. Everyone should stock up on health items and backup weapons. Form your parties before leaving and discuss individual tactics. Otherwise, we shall meet again on the 20th floor of the Labyrinth. Meeting adjourned!"

As everybody left the guildhall, Yuuki and I waited at the entrance for Asuna and Hiyoto. As we waited, I decided to ask Yuuki some questions to catch up on what she had been doing since last time I saw her.

"So Yuuki, if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you joined a guild yet?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence that surrounded us.

"I never really trusted anyone enough to go into a guild with anyone. Plus, I prefer going solo or being a small party. Big numbers only hinder me." Yuuki responded, lifting her head towards me while crossing her arms. She leant back towards one of the marble pillars near the entrance of the guildhall. "What about you? Why aren't you in a guild?" I cringed at the question, remembering the fall of my previous guild. I tried to do it as subtly as possible, but it must've still been noticeable as Yuuki immediately said; "It's ok if you don't want to answer."

"It's ok. I have a similar reason to you. Being a solo player, I am not hindered by people getting in my way. I also can have a free schedule to do whatever I want, from power-grinding to just taking a day off." I responded, trying to play off my negative reaction to her question.

Yuuki nodded, as if understanding my reasoning.

"So, did you get any interesting items since I last met you?" I asked, turning around to face her.

"Well, I did get a new sword known as the Obsidian Nightmare. It's a +7 sword with SSSDDAA (3 Speed, 2 Durability and 2 Attack) enhancements. Other than that, I got some new armour from the Floor 32 Last Attack bonus. It's called the Phantasmal Guard and it has pretty high defence and speed stats." Yuuki stated, showing me her sword.

"Still staying in inns like most noobs?" I asked jokingly.

"Like you can talk! You practically live in the inns!" Yuuki countered.

"Well, inns are closer to the dungeons. That makes power-grinding easier." I said defensively, crossing my arms.

"If you've power-grinded so much, what's your level?" Yuuki asked. I stared at her. Generally, people didn't ask others what their level was. It was quite personal and only close friends would ever attempt to ask. Well, I guess Yuuki and I are pretty good friends. So, I didn't mind.

"Level 72." I said, showing her my level. Yuuki's jaw dropped when she heard my level.

"No way…How? I'm only level 68!" Yuuki exclaimed in shock, astonished by how high my level was. I merely shrugged. Looking around, I saw Asuna and Hiyoto walk out of the guild hall, engaged in conversation. Asuna was chatting quite amicably with Hiyoto while walking.

"There you guys are! What took you so long?" I asked, walking towards them.

"Sorry, Hiyoto and I were just discussing raid tactics and how to take on red and orange guilds/players." Asuna said apologetically.

"You also forgot that you were telling me what to do when in a boss raid, after all, it is my first one." Hiyoto added, walking towards me.

"Wait its your first time?" Yuuki chimed in, appearing beside me.

"Yeah, well I've been focused on bringing red/orange players to justice than clearing. But I've decided that I also need to help with the clearing effort. The faster we get out of here, the better. Taking care of red/orange players just makes keeps people safe from player threats but not monster threats." Hiyoto explained, twirling a large dagger lined with small grooves.

"Are you sure though? I mean this boss is gonna be really tough; it's part of the Big Four boss group. You might die since you're not as…experienced as some others." Yuuki pointed out with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Wait what? The Big Four? What's that?" I asked, curious on what Yuuki meant.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that Mr Hermit over here has been out of touch with the current affairs of Aincrad. The Big Four Boss group is a group dubbed by the clearers as the quarterly bosses in Aincrad. Supposedly, each of them are ridiculously hard; way harder than what they are supposed to be. They are pretty much next-level bosses. 15 players died by the hands of Eremita, the Wandering Blade. His use of magic caught us all off guard; no mob, player or NPC except for the elves from the Elf War Campaign, can use magic in Aincrad. So, there's no exception that Eldridiia will use magic." Asuna explained while twirling her hair.

"Well, I think I'll be fine, I'm level 70; it should be high enough to compete against her." Hiyoto cooly responded, surveying our reactions. Asuna was clearly surprised; her eyes had widened, and she was staring intently at Hiyoto as if trying to discern the truth from Hiyoto's posture. Yuuki and I on the other hand were not as surprised, just slightly impressed since we both knew my level and how possible it was.

"You're like one of the highest levelled player I know! The only other player I know-" Yuuki suddenly covered her mouth with her hands, her face noticeably redder, probably embarrassed that she almost accidentally revealed my level.

"Who?" Hiyoto's question was filled with curiosity.

Asuna didn't question, she just stared at Yuuki as if she just said that God himself was coming down to smite Kayaba.

"It's ok Yuuki. We're gonna be in the same party anyway. I trust that you guys won't tell anyone else." I uncrossed my hand and swiped in downward motion. Reaching my menu, I set my level and name to public temporarily.

"Level 72!? How is that even possible?"

"Shout it a bit louder, I don't think Kayaba heard that." I said, a small smile forming on my face from watching Asuna's reaction.

"Wow, and here I thought I was the highest levelled player in Sword Art Online." Hiyoto commented, his voice layered with some astonishment. Yuuki cleared her throat.

"We probably should probably party up and talk tactics for the boss raid tomorrow." I could tell Yuuki was trying to draw Hiyoto and Asuna's attention from me. I shot her a thankful glance and mouthed "thank you". She mouthed back "you're welcome" before smiling at me.

"Ah yes, um… sorry for that…hehe…I'll form the party." Asuna's face went red before she violently slashed the air with her finger. She swiped too quickly, and the system didn't recognise her movement as opening the menu resulting in her finger activating a martial arts skill instead. Asuna's fingers flew at Hiyoto's face at the speed of light. A flash of green zipped across my vision and implanted themselves in Hiyoto's face, sending him flying across the guild base towards the nearest building. Hiyoto collided with the building with a thud. A purple hexagon with the text "Immortal Object" appeared above Hiyoto. With a groan, Hiyoto got up with an amused grin on his face.

"Well, I'm making you guys come down here since Asuna has so graciously escorted me down here with her two fingers." Hiyoto said looking at us.

Meanwhile, Yuuki and I were struggling to keep ourselves from laughing. Asuna on the other hand ran down the stairs and apologised profusely to Hiyoto. We tailed Asuna and watched as Hiyoto was bombarded by a wave of apologies by Asuna. After two minutes of apologising and us calming ourselves down, Asuna sent party requests to all of us.

* * *

[Player Asuna] has invited you to a party.

Do you wish to accept?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

 **Yuuki's POV**

I pressed 'Yes', still giggling from the whole 'Asuna accidentally two-finger punched Hiyoto all the way from the guild hall to the furthest building in vicinty' situation. I glanced over to Kirito and saw that he also was trying to contain his laughter.

"Soooooo… Anyone have any tactics when trying to overcome this boss as DPS?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I can use my Cloaked Strike against the boss. It might not do much damage, but it should stop her from using sword skills." Hiyoto suggested.

"What do you mean Cloaked Strike? What kind of skill is that?" I asked.

"Its just a skill that I picked up when I levelled up. It grants me the ability to hide/cloak and wait for the perfect moment to attack. It then allows me to hit the target before disengaging my cloak. Sadly, it's only a once every day sort of thing so I can't abuse it. But what is awesome about it is that my first strike; if it hits, it inflicts two debuffs that are very useful whether it be PVP or PVE. These two debuffs are called Ability Block and Stagger. Ability Block does exactly what it says, it stops any monster or player from using sword skills or any skill at all for 3 minutes. Stagger slows the target down and reduces their defence stat by 25% for 2 minutes." Hiyoto explained.

"That sounds really useful." I commented, noting how it could be used to give us an edge on the boss.

"Other than that, I guess we should use the tanks as a distraction while we sneak attack Eldridiia. Also, if someone gets MFD'd, they should retreat behind the tanks. Other than that, cover for attacking players and keep those flame minions away from DPS." Asuna added, her face now returning to normal.

"Well, that's that. We probably should split up and start preparing for the raid tomorrow." Kirito finished, walking towards the centre of town.

"Agreed. I need to grind a bit more, since ironically enough, I'm the lowest levelled in this party yet I'm in the strongest guild in Sword Art Online." Asuna said before heading towards the city gates.

"I'll join you then. I need to polish up my knife skills anyway." Hiyoto said. The white-haired boy ran after Asuna, intent on joining her in this last-minute grind.

As for me, I ran after Kirito, refusing to let him slip away from me again. I soon caught up to Kirito who was heading towards an inn called Gladius Dominum.

"You going to do much today or are you just going to relax and do nothing?" My voice cut through the awkward silence.

"No, I was just reserving a room now so that I won't have to sleep on the streets tonight when all the rooms have been booked. I suggest you do the same as well." Kirito responded before walking towards the innkeeper NPC and booking a room. I followed suit and got a room which was right next to Kirito's.

"Anyway, I plan to grind for a bit near the southern end of the town just to make sure that I'm ready for this boss. Care to join me?" Kirito asked.

"Why would I refuse?" I answered cheerfully, before taking Kirito's hand and practically dragging him to the Southern Gate.

"Woah! Slow down Yuuki!" Kirito's complaints got no attention from me.

[ _2 hours later_ ]

As we were slaying the local polluted slimes in the area, I took the time to observe Kirito's fighting skill. Charging at the slime, Kirito activated a sword skill, making his sword flash bright yellow. The sword collided with the slime, sending it flying back. Instead of waiting for the slime to come back, Kirito continued towards the slime, swing his sword at a metronome-like rhythm, activating sword skill after sword skill until the slime finally dissolved into a million multi-coloured prisms.

" _He's really aggressive and fast. His reaction time is also beyond normal."_ I thought as I saw him deflect the purple blade of a Zombie Warrior who had snuck up behind him. Kirito activated another sword skill which caused his black to slowly grow transparent. Kirito then kicked the monster backwards before swinging his near-invisible sword at it. The monster attempted to parry the sword, but its blade phased straight through the sword and continued its arc into the monster's body. Kirito stepped towards the right to avoid the monster's sword before unleashing a barrage of slashes and stabs, decimating the Zombie Warrior.

"Is there something on my face?" Kirito's voice dragged me from my thoughts back into reality.

"No, but what on earth was that skill?" I asked, as I took on another slime, activating my skill; Precise Incisions. My sword ignited with the colour of aqua as I slashed at the weak points of the slime. My blade became a blur as I continued to slash, many wounds appearing in the slime's body as it got stagger-locked, unable to move or counter-attack. It was only a few more seconds before the slime succumbed to my incisions, disintegrating into prisms.

"The skill is called Phantasmal Shift. It's a skill that is unlocked at level 70. It changes the physical properties of the user's sword into a corporeal being that can quite literally go through almost anything; swords, shields, but not armour. It is very tricky to use. I almost died when trying to get used to it." Kirito explained as he sheathed his sword.

I attacked a Zombie Corporal, this time concentrating on its attacks and when it would open its guard. The Zombie Corporal swung its pale white longsword at me which was greeted with my dark purple sword. I parried its attack, sending the longsword away from my sword before stabbing the zombie. I quickly withdrew my blade and sidestepped to the left, just narrowly missing its counter attack, which involved a sword uppercut that would've sliced me in half had I not side stepped. Spotting an opening, I swung my sword at its exposed side, lowering the monster's health to the red zone. I ducked just as the zombie retaliate once again in vain, lunging at where I was with its sword. Using my sword, I made a clean cut through its legs, severing them from its body. The zombie gave a deafening scream before collapsing into a pile of pixels that floated towards the clear skies of Aincrad. A message appeared in front of me.

* * *

Congratulations!

You have levelled up to [Level 70]

You have gained:

7 Additional Stat Points

Skill [Phantasmal Shift]

Passive Skill [Weapon Disarm]

* * *

Opening my menu, I allocated 3 of my stat points into my CRIT which increased it to 735, 2 to AGI which was now 723 and the remaining to STR which was now 717.

"Well, I'm level 70 now!" I exclaimed happily.

"Congrats, but I'm now level 73." Kirito said, smiling.

"That's not fair!" I pouted before following Kirito back to Algade.

 **~Floor 50, Algade - Gladium Dominum, 6:00pm Game Time~**

"So, when exactly do you want to leave the inn tomorrow?" I asked. Kirito and I were seated in the inn's dining area where we were waiting for our food.

"I'm not sure. Maybe 8:30am. Actually, make that 7:30am. That way, we can account for you sleeping in. I mean, I'm ok for another marathon but I think you'll collapse." Kirito said with a teasing tone.

"Hey! I've changed. I mean, I've been to more boss raids than you!" I countered, giving Kirito a glare.

An NPC waitress soon approached our table with our food.

"Here you go madam. The soup of the day with toasted bread." The waitress stated as she put my meal in front of me on the table. "And for you sir, your bowl of chili noodles in chicken soup."

After the waitress left, Kirito and I both started eating.

[ _After Dinner_ ]

"So Yuuki, make sure you set your alarm to 8:00am." Kirito said for about the hundredth time since we finished dinner.

"I know, I will." I responded irritably.

"Good night Yuuki!"

"Good Night!"

Both of us entered our respective rooms. I made sure I set my alarm to 8:00am before changing into my sleeping clothes, which consisted of a simple, purple t-shirt and black shorts. Climbing onto my bed, I closed my eyes, slowly drifting off into the land of rest.

 **~Next Day, 8:00am Game Time~**

A soft tone started to continuously beep, rousing me from my slumbers. I swiped my hand towards my left, dismissing the alarm as I sat up, stretched and yawned. I opened my menu and started to check all my equipment to see if I had everything before the boss raid. Soon after, I equipped my combat gear (ALO appearance without headband) and headed out of my room. As I opened my door, I saw Kirito in the doorway with his hand poised ready to knock at my door.

"No need to knock, I'm already ready." I greeted him cheerfully as Kirito put his hand down. "So, you ready to take down the boss?" I asked as we were walking out of the inn.

"Yeah, I guess. You?" Kirito responded.

"Yup!" I responded.

 **~Floor 50, 20** **th** **Level – Floor 50 Labyrinth, 10:30am Game Time~**

Kirito and I arrived earlier than expected. As we looked around, we saw that some people were already here, checking on their gear and revising their tactics. The level itself was a hubbub of noise.

"Hey Yuuki, hey Kirito! I see you're not late this time Kirito." Asuna greeted as she walked towards us. Walking beside her was Hiyoto who was wearing a dark brown cloak with yellow outlining. Attached to his hips were two sheaths, where his two daggers were currently sheathed.

"I didn't know you duel wielded those daggers Hiyoto." I heard Kirito comment.

"Eh, they are just a set of daggers, its not proper duel wielding since they are part of a set; they are not different or separate pieces of equipment. When I equip one, the other automatically equips itself." Hiyoto said, showing Kirito how he wasn't actually duel-wielding them.

After 10 minutes of chatting and catching up, Heathcliff stood at the front and made an announcement.

"Ok, this is it. The Floor 50 boss. There's nothing to say except for this. Let's clear this floor!" Heathcliff shouted before opening the boss room's doors.

My heart was fluttering with nervousness as we surveyed the room. I had a _very_ bad feeling about this. The room was dark, but we could make out that the room was rectangular with what seemed like carvings on the walls. At the very back, we could see a giant gate engraved with many symbols and intricate patterns which towered over us. At the very centre, we could barely see a figure crouching. Suddenly, the room was filled with a girl's laughter.

"Foolish humans. Do you really think you can challenge me? Prepare to die by the hands of Eldridiia, the Guardian of Flames!" a voice echoed before the figure stood up. Suddenly, the room exploded with colour. The carvings on the walls started to glow orange, lighting up the room. A girl with metal shoulder pads, a pitch-black scythe with a crimson red blade and gleaming red eyes stood in the middle. 6 health bars formed on top of her. Using my Focus ability, I zoomed in to get better details about her. A dark red cursor hovered over her head. Suddenly, Eldridiia ran at our raid group, seemingly at the speed of sound.

"Tank Section E, intercept her!" Heathcliff ordered, drawing his sword and holding his shield out. A group of 5 tanks ran forward and put their shields out to stop Eldridiia. But something very peculiar happened. As Eldridiia approached, she suddenly was consumed by fire and fizzled away. A few seconds later, a bright flash appeared behind the tanks and Eldridiia reformed from flames. She quickly twirled her scythe in a circle, activating some sort of skill. The crimson red blade of her scythe suddenly ignited with orange fire as she swung her scythe at the backs of the tanks, hitting all of them. Three of the five tanks instantly died, a shocked expression on their face before they shattered. The other two were flung towards the far end of the room, their health dangerously low.

"What the hell? She just wiped our tanks as if it was nothing." one player commented.

Eldridiia smiled as she approached us, a blazing scythe in her hand.

"Don't just stand there, get into formation! Tank Squad A, take her left flank. DPS One and Two, prepare to charge her! Tank Squad B, C and D get ready to shield push her! DPS Three, help the two tanks!" Heathcliff ordered. His voice cut through everyone's minds, freeing them from the temporary chains of fear that locked everyone's movements. Asuna, Hiyoto, Kirito and I rushed towards the two surviving members of Tank Section E while the other players got into battle positions. As I looked back, I saw Eldridiia hacking at the tanks with her scythe while the DPS groups were trying to sneak behind her.

"Here, take this." I said, giving one of the tanks a health potion. But before the tank could drink the potion, a dark figure pushed me to the ground. As I was pushed to the ground, I saw a black object momentarily transfixing itself on the chest of the tank before flying towards the other tanks, killing both of them. The scythe then haphazardly flew back towards the centre of the boss room where Eldridiia was smiling viciously.

"No…" I reached out my hand to grab the tank, but he shattered in front of me.

"You ok Yuuki?" I looked up. Kirito was holding out his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. "Come on, we've got to help the others." Kirito urged. As our group ran towards the boss, trails of flames began to appear from where the fallen tanks once were. Soon, Raging Flame Spirits spawned and started to zip around the room, using their swords, which were made of fire on the nearest targets. Eldridiia started to attack with more frenzy, rapidly swinging at the tanks. I activated my Quintuple Air slash, jumping high and swinging my sword at two nearby Raging Flame Spirits. The spirits soon perished by my sword.

"Oh no! Elderidiia is ripping our tanks into shreds!" Asuna yelled, running off at the speed of sound towards them.

I look off into the distance where Eldridiia dashed around our evasion tanks, digging her scythe into their shields before sending a huge barrage of fire balls their way, decimating their armour and health. I watched as another victim of Eldridiia's was dragged towards her, Eldridiia's scythe embedded in his shield. Eldridiia's hands suddenly engulfed in flames before delivering a series of rapid punches at the tank's face. The tank stood no chance.

"NOOO!" I heard Asuna scream before she delivered payloads of Quintuple Pain (skill) at Eldridiia's back, driving her health bar down until only 4 healthbars were left. Eldridiia gave a scream of frustration before engulfing herself in flames, flying towards the centre of the room.

"She's transitioning to Stage 2! Brace yourselves!" I warned, backing away from the ignited boss, holding my sword, ready to attack. Kirito, Asuna and Hiyoto joined me, standing beside me as we looked at the boss.

A few seconds later, a massive wave of flames erupted from the ground and travelled towards the edges of the room as Eldridiia landed on the ground. Kirito, Hiyoto, Asuna and I jumped instinctively, narrowly missing the flaming wave of doom. Other players weren't so lucky. Their health got taken down straight to the red zone and they were inflicted with numerous debuffs including the Marked for Death debuff.

"Tanks! Cover the debuffed players!" Heathcliff ordered while charging at the boss. The boss had significantly changed since its previous form. Eldridiia now held a thick tome decorated with many rune symbols while in her other hand was a staff with a bright yellow crystal. The butt of the staff held a small diamond-shaped blade coloured crimson red while the staff itself was filled with intricate carvings layered with gold. As Heathcliff approached the boss, Eldridiia smashed his shield with her staff. Suddenly, several Raging Flame Spirits surrounded Heathcliff, eager to kill him.

"Flammae de caelo!" Eldridiia thundered, waving her staff towards the ceiling. Magical runes which changed colours every second started to float around Eldridiia, circling her. They gradually increased their speed until they suddenly rose towards the ceiling. Blood red lightning struck down from the ceiling onto the poor players who had the MFD debuff. They never stood a chance. Smitten by bolts of flames, the players simply shattered in front of the tanks that were guarding them.

"What the…?" I questioned, simply shocked at the sheer power of this boss. _"We're going to lose so many during this boss."_

"Charge at her. Everyone hit her before she can cast another spell!" Heathcliff yelled, fending off the Raging Flame Spirits that surrounded him. The imps made of flames tried dive-bombing him. Heathcliff intercepted one with his sword, another with his shield while a dodging a third.

"Quattuor animi virtutem ignis mauris!"

"She's casting another spell! CHARGE!"

Players from all groups converged towards Eldridiia. Before any had the chance to hit her, she simply fizzled away, reappearing 5 metres away, spawning five Raging Flame Spirits from where she was. A dark and sadistic grin touched on her face before runes started swirling around her, creating a dark vortex. The Raging Flame Spirits collided with five other players, debuffing them and sending them flying. By the time the rest of the raid group figured out that Eldridiia teleported away, she had finished casting her spell. Eight ghostly purple fire bolts came flying out of the dark vortex in rapid succession, aiming towards the debuffed players. Like homing missiles target locked on a target, they sailed towards each player with the MFD debuff. The first four collided with their respective targets, exploding on contact, sending their healthbars plummenting to zero. As the other four sailed towards the last player, a black-clothed figure stepped in front, sword in hand. I watched in amazement as they sliced at the ghostly missiles with insane speed and precision, using different sword skills to intercept each bolt. Red, blue, orange and purple. The black swordsman then held his hand out to the player, giving him a health potion before charging at the boss.

"Nequissimi ignea terram subeu-" before the boss could finish its incantation, the swordsman hacked into the boss, damaging it and stopping the incantation all together. The runes, which were starting to form as the boss had started to chant suddenly faded. Eldridiia snarled before swinging its staff at the offending swordsman. The swordsman leant backwards, narrowly dodging the swing before counterattacking with a sword skill which made his blade glow a pure white. The player hacked at the boss, attacking in a frenzy, driving the boss back. Before he could drop the boss to two health bars, the boss teleported away, leaving the swordsman to deal with Raging Flame Spirits. Hiyoto and I ran to help, using our speed to outmanoeuvre the Raging Flame Spirits before destroying them in a few strokes.

"Potentia viginti infernum iudicium!"

Once more, runes started swirling around the boss as it held out its tome. Heathcliff and what was left of the raid group prepared to hit the boss, but they were too late. The boss had finished its chant. Above Eldridiia's head, a massive vortex opened, coloured in brown, black, orange and red. Ghostly green fireballs, arrows made of black fire and red lightning rushed out of the vortex. The black swordsman readied his sword as Hiyoto and I prepared for living hell. The swordsman immediately ran into the green fireballs, slicing them in half as they came flying at him at what seemed like the speed of sound. Hiyoto used his daggers to intercept the hailstorm of arrows, slicing what he could while dodging the others. As for me, I activated one of my sword skills, prepared to intercept whatever came at me. A crimson red bolt of lightning shot at me. I desperately blocked using my sword. My instead of activating my sword skill, my sword ended up deflecting the lightning, saving me from being fried but not enough to stop me from taking damage. I watched as my healthbar slowly drained away, getting dangerously closed to the red zone. The lightning soon ceased, to my relief, as Heathcliff and the rest of the group managed to reduce the boss to two healthbars. Panting, I saw the black swordsman turn towards me, offering me a potion. It was Kirito.

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the potion and drinking it. I cringed as the bitter taste of the potion flowed through the bottle into my mouth. Soon, my health rose back to full.

"What form is it going to morph into now?" I wondered aloud, watching as Eldridiia once again consumed herself in flames and drifted towards the middle. Suddenly, wings made of shadows and darkness sprouted from Eldridiia's back while her staff morphed into a simple longsword permanently engulfed in shadowy fire. Her eyes gleamed red, and a demonic smile was on her face.

Suddenly, she landed on the floor. In a blink of the eye, Eldridiia zipped through the room, hacking and slashing at the nearest player. Before any players could react, three were killed. Another two were killed when Eldridiia unleashed a barrage of spirit-like, purple flame bolts from her hand, completely overwhelming them.

"Holy crap. That is one OP final form." I heard Hiyoto say, completely shocked at how powerful the boss became.

 **Kirito's POV**

I stood absolute shock as Eldridiia tore through our raid group. Several players from the Zero Requiem surrounded the boss. Before any of them made it within a metre of the boss, Eldridiia erupted into shadows, teleporting away and leaving a whole group of Raging Flame Spirits behind to deal with the Zero Requiem players. The silver armoured players of the Zero Requiem quickly dealt with the annoying kamikaze monsters.

Throughout the next few minutes, I found that it was close to impossible to hit the boss. Except for when she was attacking, Eldridiia kept teleporting away, leaving behind a swarm of Raging Flame Spirits.

"I've got an idea. I'll use my special ability in order to stagger the boss since it won't be able to see me. Then you and Yuuki can do as much damage as possible to it." Hiyoto's voice barely made it through the sounds of swords colliding on shields. Hiyoto activated his dagger skills, his daggers fading to a night black colour. As his daggers faded, Hiyoto himself also faded until he was invisible.

"Yuuki! Hiyoto is going to use his Cloaked Strike ability to stun the boss. Get ready to hit the boss with all you've got." I said, turning towards Yuuki who nodded and smiled.

Suddenly, Eldridiia gave a loud shriek as Hiyoto sank his daggers in her back. Two red markers appeared above Eldridiia's healthbar. One looked like an 'x' made of chains while the other looked like a figure stepping back from a fissure.

"Here's our chance!" Yuuki shouted before charging at the boss, activating her sword skills. I followed suit, running at the boss. As the boss saw us approach it tried to teleport away but it couldn't do anything due to its debuff. Yuuki and I both hit the boss at the same time, a symphony of colours erupting from our blades as we hacked and slashed and stabbed, switching between different sword skills while the boss could only flail and feebly block. The health bar slowly fell with each strike. The boss' health finally reached zero when Yuuki's blade collided with the boss at the same time as my blade. A bright light shot out of Eldridiia's body, slowly widening its ray until the boss erupted into a thousand colourful pixels. The room suddenly sobered; the carvings on the wall stopped glowing and the gates at the end of the room opened with a loud thud. A message popped up at the middle of the room. [Congratulations for clearing Floor 50!]

Soon every player who were still standing received a message detailing what they got from this hellish fight. " _We lost 20 players. To a hopelessly overpowered boss. If this is only the boss for Floor 50, how many will we lose when we get to Floor 75 or 100?"_ A message blinked into existence in front of my vision, breaking my train of thought.

* * *

Congratulations! You have defeated Eldridiia, Guardian of the Flames!

You have earned:

26 000 Col

16722 EXP

Last Attack Bonus:

[Weapon] Elucidator

[Material] 100 Darkness Essence

* * *

As soon as I clicked the dismiss button, another message invaded my vision.

* * *

Congratulations!

You have levelled up to [Level 74]

You have gained:

7 Additional Stat Points

Skills Enhanced:

[Passive Skill] Battle Healing +1

* * *

Dismissing the message, I looked over to see Yuuki reading over her own battle summary.

"Did you get the Last Attack Bonus?" I asked. Yuuki looked up, a puzzled expression evident on her face.

"I did… But I'm not actually sure what it is. Here I'll show you." Yuuki opened her menu before sending a trade request, showing me the item. I looked at the item name.

"Map of the Sword Saints? What's that supposed to do?" I said, before rejecting the trade request.

"Did you get anything from the Last Attack Bonus?" Yuuki asked.

"Yeah, I did, a weapon known as the Elucidator." I answered, looking around the room.

"Congratulations everyone for clearing this floor! Though we had heavy casualties today, they will not be forgotten! We will march on, showing everyone that we're getting closer to ending this death game! Now we must head off and activate the teleport gate!" Heathcliff's voice boomed in the boss room. While everyone started to walk off towards the exit, Yuuki and I stayed.

"Uh Heathcliff? Is it ok if you guys go on ahead without us? We still have something we need to do on this floor." Yuuki asked.

"You can do whatever you want. You guys are the saviour of this floor. Without you two and Hiyoto, I fear we would've never been able to clear this boss." Heathcliff gravely said before heading towards the exit.

Yuuki watched as Heathcliff left the room along with the rest of the raid group. When they finally disappeared from view, Yuuki opened her menu and got the map out. An ancient-looking, well worn out scroll materialised in Yuuki's hand. Yuuki attempted to open the scroll but it wouldn't budge. A message appeared in front of us. [Missing Elucidator. Quest cannot be started.]

"An Elucidator? Isn't that what you got from the last attack bonus?" Yuuki asked after reading the message.

"Yeah, I'll get it out." I opened my menu and got the Elucidator out. As the Elucidator materialised in my hands, I felt an enormous weight drop on my hands. I could barely lift the sword, let alone use it as a weapon. "Wow, this sword is so heavy!" I groaned, straining to lift it.

"Can you hold it out so that I can touch the sword with the scroll?" Yuuki asked, trying not to laugh as I tried my hardest to hold the sword properly. I held it out with both hands as Yuuki held the scroll towards the sword. As soon as the scroll made contact with the sword, both objects began to glow bright yellow. The scroll opened itself. Putting the Elucidator back into my inventory, I walked over to Yuuki, who was staring intently at the map.

"So…what does this map show us?"

"It literally is just a map of Floor 50. There's nothing else. It's a dud." Yuuki said, disappointed that her item seemed useless. I looked over Yuuki's bare shoulder towards the map. It was indeed a map of Floor 50 with incredible detail, almost as if someone had sketched every single detail. Then I noticed it. A small alcove that connected from the very edge of a dungeon. The alcove had detailed writing on it. Chamber of Absolutes. This wasn't in any of our player maps.

"Yuuki. You see the area labelled Fuming Forest?" I asked.

"Yes. What about it?" Yuuki answered depressingly.

"If you look towards the north-eastern edge of there, you can see a small room attached to it. I think this map allows us to access that room." I continued, pointing towards the Chamber of Absolutes that was marked on her map.

"Oh. I see it! What are we waiting for? We have to go! Come on Kirito!" Yuuki said excitedly, quite literally jumping up and down.

"Calm down Yuuki. It's not like its going anywhere. No one except us and maybe Kayaba knows about this section anyway." I said, trying to calm Yuuki down.

 **~Floor 50, North-Eastern Area of Fuming Forest, 12:30pm – Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Why do I feel like we've past this tree like 10 times? And why is this area so foggy for no reason?" I asked, looking at our surroundings which seemed to be the same surrounding that we passed for the past 30 minutes. "Yep, I definitely saw that tree with the little sword marking on it. Wait. A sword marking?"

Kirito didn't respond but simply walked towards the tree. Kirito held out a hand a touched the marking.

"It looks a lot like the Elucidator. I wonder if we need the Elucidator to find the Chamber of Absolutes." Kirito muttered, swiping his hand at the air. His menu opened and he scrolled through it, tapping a few buttons. Soon, the black sword materialised in Kirito's hand. As soon as it materialised, it immediately glowed green and pointed towards the right of the tree, like a compass needle to magnetic north.

"Well, I guess we _do_ need the Elucidator to find the Chamber of Absolutes." I said, happy that we were finally making progress.

Kirito and I walked through the mist, the sword guiding us, occasionally redirecting us to walk in another direction. After five minutes, we finally reached a clearing where two giant marble doors stood, guarding whatever lay hidden inside the otherwise rock face that was in the clearing. I walked towards the door, noticing that there was a Elucidator-sized indent on one of the doors.

"I think I'm supposed to put the Elucidator into that indent." Kirito said, walking towards the indent. He gently (and with great difficulty) placed the ornate sword into the indent. At once, the doors started moving, swinging inward towards the cave where a hooded NPC could be seen. I rushed in, eager to see what the NPC would give us while Kirito took back his sword. The 'chamber' if I could call it one was massive, with many giant torches mounted on its rock walls. I used my Focus skill on the NPC. The NPC had a green cursor and above that, its name. Sasaki Kojirō, the famous master of swordsmanship. I approached the NPC, hoping that my actions would trigger a quest of some sort.

"Welcome Demon Slayers. I see you have acquired the legendary scroll and sword from the wretched demoness that stole them from me many years ago. Welcome to my meditation chamber, the Chamber of Absolutes! This is where I, Sasaki Kojirō, hone my swordsmanship skills and where you will develop your own." Sasaki's deep voice echoed within the chamber.

"Who is he?" Kirito asked as he approached me.

"How do you not know who he is? He is one of the most famous swordsman in Japanese history. He pretty much is a sword saint." I said.

"Now, you demon slayers have earned the right to train under me. The holder of the scroll shall learn its secrets and construct their own form while the holder of the Lightbringer shall hone their reflexes until it is parallel to none." Sasaki continued before a message appeared in front of us.

* * *

[Secret Quest] Saints of the Swords initiated!

Train under Sasaki until you have mastered the art of the sword.

* * *

As soon as we dismissed the message, the massive white doors slammed shut, leaving us alone with the NPC, trapped.

"Now, my students, we train!"

Sasaki suddenly duplicated himself, one standing right next to me while another one stood next to Kirito. Both of them drew their swords. The massive torches in the cavern flickered before a dojo materialised in front of us. The Sasakis lead us inside where I was led to a room with multiple dummies including player-sized ones as well as several monster sized ones.

"You will now construct your own sword form, one that will be unparalleled. These dummies will simulate real enemies but will not do any lasting damage to you." Sasaki said before stepping back to watch me. I glanced around the room. Several dummies started to come to life and picked weapons off a nearby shelf. An imp chose a pike while two human-sized one chose shields and longswords. They closed in on me, circling around me before attacking. Dodging the thrust of the imp's pike, I blocked an incoming sword strike from one of the dummies. However, I was hit in the back by the third dummy whom I completely forgot about. I was knocked to the ground but when I looked at my health bar, I soon realised that no health was lost.

"You must be swift on your feet young one. Your feet must be like the leaves in the wind, graceful and smooth." Sasaki instructed.

Getting back onto my feet, I charged at the dummies. Kicking the imp before it could attack, I jumped into the air and flipped over one of the human-sized dummies. I then stabbed it in the back before sidestepping, narrowly avoiding a sword stroke from the other human-sized dummy. I slashed at the dummy only to find its shield intercepting my stroke mid-action breaking my momentum. I soon was sent sprawling back to the ground by the imp's pike which flicked at me like a serpent's tongue.

"Your mind must be connected with the sword. One does not use the sword. Nor does the sword use the swordsman. Both swordsman and sword are one in mind flowing through gracefully as if both are an extension of each other." Sasaki advised.

Gritting my teeth, I got back up and held my sword in a guard position. Closing my eyes, I relaxed, imagining that the sword was part of my arm. Opening my eyes, I grinned before attacking the imp. It tried to spear me with its pike but I deflected it with my sword before twirling around and slashing the imp in the face. I kicked the imp away and turned towards the two remaining dummies. Sensing that one was about to swing its sword at me, I preemptively swung my sword, parrying the sword stroke before using my hilt to knock it out of the dummy's hand. Using my sword, I quickly stabbed at the side of the dummy, just before it could cover its opening with its shield. The dummy collapsed onto the floor, inanimate and motionless. Facing the last dummy, I started by swinging a side slash. The dummy blocked the hit and counter-attacked with its sword. I sidestepped the attack, before using my blade to knock the sword out the dummy's hand. Immediately, the dummy dropped into a defensive guard, holding out its shield. Running at the dummy, I unleashed all and every sword attack I knew, hammering them on the shield. The dummy endured with all of them until I jumped up to hit a high strike. It raised its shield to block that. But as soon as my sword came in contact with the shield, I immediately crouched, dropping to the ground and stabbing at its legs. That finished off the dummy.

"Not bad. You still need to work on your sword technique but you have talent." Sasaki said before leading me to another room.

* * *

For the next few days, Sasaki was training Kirito and I in the use of proper sword technique and dodging. For Kirito, he mainly focused on his reaction time and dodging while I was taught the finer arts of swordsmanship and dodging. We were provided with bland rice as food and given separate rooms to sleep in. On the next day, Sasaki led us to the giant white doors that trapped us in this 'chamber'.

"Yuuki, your final test, before you rejoin the rest of the world is to break down the doors with your sword." Sasaki said.

I looked at Kirito before staring at Sasaki.

"The doors? How?" I asked.

"Use everything I have taught you. This is how you will make your own sword form. By combining what I have taught you with your own knowledge and intuition." Sasaki responded.

I sighed, turning to face the doors. I closed my eyes to gather what kind of 'move' I would use to take down the door. Then I decided. Twirling my sword in my hands, I started to rapidly stab at the door. I stabbed five time diagonally from top left to bottom right before doing the inverse. I then slashed at the door with two diagonal strokes before forming a cross with another two slashes; first striking vertically before horizontally. Finally, I held my sword back, pouring all my might for this last stab before jabbing it at the door with all my might. The doors simply shattered, allowing the artificial light of Aincrad to shine on our faces again.

"Congratulations Yuuki. You have created your own Sword Art or more known to you as a Sword Skill. I have taught you everything I know. Now it is time for you to complete your grand quest. Take my sword and blessing. The time has come for me to leave this world." Sasaki said before disappearing in a flash of light.

"I have never seen something as epic as that Yuuki! That was awesome! Your sword was glowing neon purple and you were stabbing and slashing at the speed of sound." Kirito said enthusiastically.

"Thanks Kirito." I responded, grinning at Kirito's reaction.

Another message soon popped up into my sight.

* * *

Congratulations! You have completed the [Secret Quest] Saints of the Swords!

You have gained:

[Unique Skill] ?

[Weapon] Absolute Obsidian

[Equipment] Sword Saint's Blessing (Head Accessory)

* * *

Tapping accept, I was given the option to name my newly created skill. I typed in "Mother's Rosario". Clicking the confirm button, a notification appeared in my vision telling me that my unique skill was successfully named Mother's Rosario. The scroll I had in my inventory suddenly changed into another item called Sword Saint's Blessing. Taking it out of my inventory, I inspected it. It was a simple red headband with two yellow arrows pointing right. I tapped the information button on the item to see what it did.

* * *

[Head Accessory] Sword Saint's Blessing

\+ 60 STR

+50 DEX

+40 VIT

+30 AGI

 _"A headband that grants the wearer massive stat boosts. It is said to have once been the legendary sword saint Sasaki Kojirō's headband"_

* * *

Putting on the headband, I looked at Kirito.

"You better not tell anyone about my new skill Kirito." I told Kirito, a serious tone in my voice.

"Of course, of course. You have my word. I won't spill unless you allow me to." Kirito said solemnly, holding his hand to his heart.

"Ok then. We probably should go to Floor 51, our friends will be waiting for us." I suggested. With that in mind, we walked back, through the Fuming Forest.

* * *

 **Well, that was a very, very long chapter. I really hope you enjoyed it!**

 **A bit excessive on fight scenes I know, but hey, Yuuki likes fighting. So does Kirito. So this is perfect for them :p**

 **Tell me if you like the way I have formatted the system messages/notifications, this chapter is just a trial for them, I may use this sort of format for them depending if people like them or not.**

 **Once again, thank you for all your support!**

 **Feel free to leave suggestions or reviews as always and I'll see you next week for another** **(definitely shorter)** **chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you all!  
**

 **~Herosassin**


	6. Chapter 6: Avenged

**AN: Hoi! I'm so sorry about the late upload. This chapter is one of the most difficult chapters to write for me since it's hard to get their personality right while making them share details about themselves. (Please don't burn me at the stake)**

 **I'm back with another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater. But before I give you a chapter, I'm going to respond to my dear reviewers :)**

 **ENDDRAGON369:** _"_ _Ahhh Sasaki Kojiro a person who even though is in history he probably did not exist and famed for his impossible technique: Hiken Tsubame Gaeshi.. The process behind the development of the technique was simply Sasaki Kojiro attempting to figure out the means of cutting down a swallow in mid-flight. He found that swallows feel the shaking of the wind caused by the sword strike in order to avoid the blade. It is impossible to avoid disturbing the air, no matter how fast the strike, and a sword can only move in a straight line. The swallow can move horizontally or vertically to avoid it, so a single strike cannot possibly cut one down. The swallow's escape route must be completely blocked off, meaning that after the first attack, another is necessary to entrap it. The second blow cannot possibly be done in time to hit the swallow, and it is beyond human capabilities to attack multiple times in one instant. He accepted that it was impossible, but with nothing else to do as a simple and honest reason, he spent his entire lifetime practicing the sword in order to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship until the very end. After a long period of time, he perfected the technique and it reached another state entirely. Although with some limitations, he eventually attained, perfected and refined his goal, a Mystic Sword technique as a prison of slashes that treads into the Second Magic without any knowledge of Magecraft or True Magic by doing nothing but spending his life swinging his longsword, following a single worthless idea on how to kill a flying swallow._

 _There is a sword of infinity that leads to multiplicity. A way to acknowledge "multiple possibilities". A single act that is originally finite; a single slash that can only be performed at one time, in one space. It is, so to speak, an "infinite" sword that gives birth to several "correct answers". To make one's own existence transparent to the extremes, till there is nothing more. And yet to grasp for "something" beyond that. That is Kojiro's "Tsubame Gaeshi". A sword that creates a "future" that not even the gods can escape from."_

 **A: Um…. Ok? Thanks for the information. Thank you for enlightening my readers and myself (to an extent) about Sasaki. You've actually given me a few ideas… *grabs notepad and scribbles down some story plot ideas.**

 **The Rupture:** _"_ _No Tsubame Gaeshi, taught to Kirito or Yuuki."_

 **A: Nope. Wouldn't fit my storyline and also it would be too op (In my opinion). Another reason is that Tasubame Gaeshi is supposed to be impossible and dabbles in magic and players in SAO aren't supposed to have magic… Sorry!**

 **Akira44:** _"_ I _really enjoy this chapter like the usual.. and thanks for the long chapter.. I like this chapter especially how you made Yuuki got her unique skill and need elucidator to get that.. keep spirit and see you next week.."_

 **A: Thank you Akira44! Glad you enjoyed my chapter. I shall keep spirit and press onto the unknown and unwoven world of my story :)**

 **And that's all the reviewer responses I have this week.**

 **As always, feel free to review, suggest and criticise on my story. I welcome all questions and feedback as it helps me improve!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **?#?** **: You've forgotten about something Herosassin.**

 **Herosassin: I refuse to say it.**

 **?#?** **: I'll reveal myself to your readers if you don't.**

 **Herosassin: You wouldn't dare!**

 **?#?: Try me. Hey readers of the Tale of Zekken and the Beater! I'm S-**

 **Herosassin: Alright, alright.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online, SAO belongs to Reki Kawahara.**

* * *

 **~Floor 50, Fuming Forest, 11:00am Game Time~**

 **Kirito's POV**

"First, I want to go meet a friend of mine on this floor. He's a blacksmith, a very good one. He's probably the only blacksmith I would trust to enhance my Elucidator." These words just spouted from my mouth as Yuuki and I were walking through the Fuming Forest.

"You have friends?" Yuuki teased, an impish glint in her eyes.

"So, you don't count then?" I countered.

"…Since when were you able to even use the Elucidator?"

"Well, when you were training with the sword saint, I managed to level up again to Level 74. I put all my stat points into STR so now I can use it with ease."

"Then why aren't you equipping it?"

"Well…I forgot about it."

"Oh really? I don't believe you. Prove it to me in a duel using the Elucidator."

"You just want to duel me with your new Unique Skill!" I accused, swiping my finger to equip the Elucidator. The Elucidator materialised in my hand, sheathed in a simple yet elegant black sheath. Putting the sheath onto my back, I drew the sword. The black longsword had an interesting cross guard. It had one crossguard, where a semicircular arc extended from and connected to the rest of the sword where the blade was. I honestly thought it was ironic that the Elucidator was named the 'Lightbringer' when it was black as night.

Suddenly a system message popped out in front of me.

* * *

[Player] Yuuki has challenged you to a duel!

Do you accept?

[First Strike Mode]

[Half Loss Mode]

[Total Loss Mode]

[Decline]

* * *

"Ok, you asked for it Yuuki." My hand touched the Half Loss mode option. A 10 second countdown appeared in between Yuuki and I as we squared off, sword in hand.

 _10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…._

As the timer disappeared, Yuuki flew at me at the speed of sound, sword raised, radiating the colour purple.

 **Yuuki's POV**

As soon as the timer faded away, I charged at Kirito, sword skill ready, hoping to catch him off guard. Unleashing a series of stabs, I was surprised when Kirito simply grinned at the incoming attack. His sword suddenly phased right into my vision, deflecting and intercepting all of my stabs with impossible precision, his sword changing colour for every stab he intercepted. At the end of my sword skill, I landed no hits on him.

"My turn." Kirito said before launching into his own attack sequence.

I barely managed to block Kirito's first strike. The sheer force of his strike sent me stumbling. Kirito chased after me, using powerful, well timed slashes at me while I blocked with my sword. Each block sent me backwards slightly, giving Kirito a slight edge since I wouldn't be able to counter-attack without getting hit by Kirito. As Kirito reached for an overhead strike, I managed to parry his sword, buying myself enough time to counter attack.

Twirling my sword in my right hand, I activated my newly acquired skill, Mother's Rosario. My sword immediately glistened with a purple aura. I charged at Kirito. I expected my first hit to go through his guard, striking him. Instead, the Elucidator once again intercepted my hit, stopping it from going any further. As the system continued to guide me through the motions of my unique skill, Kirito parried each and every one of my stabs. I gritted my teeth and started to accelerate the speed of my execution. Even going thrice as fast, Kirito still somehow managed to block or deflect every single of my blows. Even my four swipes at the very end of my skill failed to faze Kirito, he simply parried my sword mid-motion. Holding my sword back, I prepared for the final strike. Pooling all of my energy into this final strike, I thrust the sword as hard as I can at Kirito. I saw Kirito move his sword to block it, ending up with the flat of the Elucidator getting hit by my sword, which was ignited with purple flames. As soon as my sword hit the Elucidator, it caused a massive explosion, sending me backwards. I dug my sword into the ground, holding on to it so that I wouldn't go flying. A massive dust cloud separated me from Kirito. Looking around, I held out my sword in front of me. Soon, the dust cleared and I was greeted with the sight of Kirito slumped against the trunk of a tree, the Elucidator on the ground at his feet. A timer-like buzz sounded far off in the distance. Looking up, I saw that the duel timer had reached zero, concluding our duel. A message appeared right below the timer.

* * *

'Yuuki has won the duel!'

* * *

Another message popped in front of Kirito and me.

* * *

"Congratulations to Yuuki for winning the duel. Remember to shake your opponent's hand."

* * *

Looking at our health bars, which were situated on either side of the timer, I saw that I was pretty much unscathed, losing only the slightest of health while Kirito had lost a little bit more than me; probably from the final blow of my unique skill. Both of us were still in the green zone. I sheathed my sword before walking towards Kirito.

"Ow. Your last blow really hits hard." Kirito groaned as he slowly got up, shaking (or wringing) his sword hand. He reached down to pick up his sword before checking its durability. "Wow, barely a scratch on the durability." Kirito commented, showing me his menu display.

* * *

[Weapon] Elucidator

Attack: 700-710

Range: Short

Type: Slash

Weight: 170

Durability: 1311/1350

When Equipped:

Strength + 48

Agility + 28

Available Enhancement Slots: 50/50

* * *

"Holy Aincrad! Look at those enhancement slots." My eyes widened as I followed Kirito's hand towards the piece of information which he was amazed about. When my eyes finally arrived at where Kirito was pointing, I had to pinch myself to see if what I saw was true.

"Fi-Fifty enhancement slots? My sword only has twenty! And look at that attack stat! This sword could probably last you until Floor 80!" The tone of my voice must've given away the serious stat jealousy I had. Kirito simply grinned before responding:

"Like you can talk. You have a brand-new sword which I assume you forgot about. Not only that, you have an amazing unique skill that would turn most if not all players into putty."

"That's true I suppose."

"Anyway, we need to go to my blacksmith friend. I heard he moved his shop into Algade. He should be able to fill some of those enhancement slots." Kirito said, closing the stat window before sheathing his sword. Wearing the sheath like a backpack, he started walking towards Algade with me.

 **~Floor 50, Algade, 12:00pm Game Time~**

 **Kirito's POV**

"Remind me where your friend's shop is?" Yuuki asked, looking around at the backstreet alleyway we were in.

"Look, all he said was that his shop is near here." I responded, looking around the area. A certain two-story building caught my eye. On the building was a large red billboard with "Agil's Shop" clearly printed. Below the title, the shop's motto: "Buy cheap, and sell cheap" was neatly printed. "There is his shop. Come on Yuuki, let's go." I said, walking into Agil's shop.

'So, your friend's shop is in a dodgy backwater alleyway? Are you sure he's trustworthy?" I heard Yuuki ask as she walked through the doorway of Agil's shop.

"For your information, I am one of the most trustworthy blacksmiths out there. The only reason why my shop is located here is because property prices on Floor 50 are insanely high." Agil said casually. "Hey Kirito, what can I-" Agil suddenly stopped speaking as he saw Yuuki with me.

"What's wrong Agil?" I asked, walking towards him, genuinely confused.

Suddenly, Agil grabbed me and put me in a headlock.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kirito?" he said, dragging me down towards his counter.

"Agil, I am Kirito."

"How do I know that? You're a solo player. Since when did you team up with anyone? Tell me something only Kirito would know." Agil stage whispered.

"I'm a solo player. Duh."

"What caused you to become a solo player?"

"…Moonlit Black Cats." I responded softly in a sad tone.

"So it is you Kirito. How on earth did you get a beautiful young lady to team with you? How much did you pay her?"

"Agil, I didn't pay her anything! She's Yuuki, remember, from floor 1?! She's my friend." I responded. I felt my face radiate with heat and embarrassment.

"Ahem. Nice to meet you Agil." Yuuki said, trying to save me from further interrogation. I shot her a grateful look. _Thank you._

"Anyway, Agil, I was wondering if you could upgrade Yuuki's sword and my sword." I said, getting out my sword, the Elucidator. I gestured for Yuuki to do the same. Yuuki stepped forward and opened her menu, getting out her new sword, Absolute Obsidian.

"Wow, those are some sweet swords. But it's gonna cost a lot." Agil said, impressed with the quality of our swords.

"Cost isn't too much of a matter for us. Plus, I've already got the materials to enhance Yuuki's and mine." I said, opening my menu once more to get out the Darkness Essence materials, which I suspected would be used for enhancing.

"What are those?" Agil asked curiously.

"These are high quality enhancement materials that I got from a boss drop." I explained, showing him the materials.

"Is it possible to enhance my sword to +35 with 15 sharpness and 20 durability?" I asked.

"And I would like to enhance my sword to +35 with 20 durability, 10 sharpness and 10 agility please." Yuuki said, handing over her sword to Agil.

"That's gonna be very risky, you sure you want to risk your swords with these enhancements?" Agil warned, concerned for our swords.

"Don't worry, one of the benefits of using Darkness Essence as enhancing materials is that it automatically gives a 100% success rate when enhancing." I said, sending Agil a trade request with 50 of my Darkness Essence. "This should be enough to enhance both Yuuki's sword and my sword."

Agil simply nodded before accepting the trade request and grabbing both our swords.

"This will probably take a few hours, I'll message you when I'm done." Agil said, before turning to his forge.

"Thanks Agil!" Yuuki and I said before turning to leave the shop. Suddenly, a pinging sound played before a '1' icon appeared at the top right of my vision. Opening my menu, I navigated to my inbox where a private message was waiting for me. Clicking on the message, I began to read it.

* * *

From [Player] Hiyoto:

 _"Hey Kirito, how are you and Yuuki doing? If you are free, I have a small request for you to do, if you are able to. If you can, please meet me at the town square of Floor 29 at 2:00pm._

 _Thanks, Hiyoto"_

[Reply] [Close]

* * *

"Hey Yuuki, did you receive Hiyoto's message?" I asked, closing the message and menu.

"Yup, I assume we're going to go?" Yuuki responded, typing a seemingly invisible message back before hitting what I assume was the reply button. "Kirito? Can we get something to eat or something like that before we leave?" Yuuki asked.

"Sure, why not."

Yuuki and I walked back to the main area of Algade where we found a nice little restaurant to eat. After placing our orders, we sat down. _"Did Yuuki hear about the Moonlit Black Cats? And how that incident caused me to solo? If she knew, she would never look at me the same way again. I'm a failure and sooner or later, it's going to get Yuuki killed."_

"What do you think Hiyoto asked us for?" Yuuki's voice cut right through my dark thoughts, breaking the silence.

"Probably to deal with some red players." I responded, looking up to her crimson eyes. Yuuki smiled at me. _"I wonder how Yuuki got her red eyes? There's no item that I know of that can change the colours of your eyes, and you can't choose your eye colour. The scanners in the Nerve Gear were pretty thorough in scanning our entire body, making sure that all the players looked like their real-life selves in-game."_

"Is there something on my face?" Once again, Yuuki's voice snapped my mind back into the confines of reality, where I realised I had been staring into Yuuki's eyes.

"Uh…No…There's nothing on your face." I said, my face turning slightly red.

"Ok...? Then why were you staring at me?" Yuuki asked, a curious glint in her eyes.

"I was just curious on how you got your red eye colour. Is it an in-game item or are they…really your eye colour in real life?" I asked.

Yuuki fell silent for some time, casting her eyes towards the table.

"If it's personal, you don't need to answer." I added.

"No, it's ok. My eye colour isn't because of an in-game item. It's my eye colour in real life. See, when I was born, for some reason I had a lack of melanin in our eyes. The doctors were completely dumbfounded, finding no explanation on why my eyes had very little melanin but the rest of my body had a perfectly normal amount. I was bullied a lot for having what people called 'demonic eyes'. School was turned into a personal hell. No one wanted to be friends with me as they thought I was cursed and that by befriending me, they would be cursed as well. That was when I started wearing coloured contacts. Obviously, I didn't wear them when I was at home and so the scanners must have implemented them into here." Yuuki explained, keeping her head down. "I look like a freak, don't I?" she finished sadly.

"Yuuki look at me." Yuuki looked up. "In my opinion, the colour of your eyes really suits you. It makes you look like a badass more than anything. Plus, who cares what others think, I think they look really cool and pretty." I said, comforting her.

"Thanks Kirito." Yuuki managed a small smile. A waiter soon came and gave us our meals.

 **~Floor 29, Crystal City Square, 2:00pm Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

I marvelled at the beauty of Floor 29's main city. Multi-coloured crystalline shards decorated the city square, many blacksmith shops were set up near here, filling the square with the sounds of hammers hitting metal and merchants shouting out their offers. Looking at Kirito, I noticed how his face was devoid of any emotions, his entire posture and the way he walked was stiff, as if something terrible or bad had happened here.

"Hiyoto should be waiting for us here." Kirito said, his voice was neutral and was in some ways, strained.

Staring at the flowing fountain which was situated at the centre of the square, I let my eyes explore the rest of the city square. There were four paths leading towards the fountain, each of which were made of a different coloured crystal/glass. The path I was standing on was vibrant yellow while the other three paths were lush green, light blue and bright red respectively. A hooded player walked on the red path, heading towards us.

"Hey Kirito, I think our contact is here." I tugged on Kirito's coat sleeve before pointing towards the hooded figure. Kirito nodded his head in acknowledgement. The two of us walked towards the hooded figure who led us to a more secluded area of the square. Hiyoto took off his hood, greeting us with a nod of his head before getting out what seemed to be a map of this floor.

"So, what job do you have for us?" I asked.

"There has been a MPK group on this floor who have been taking out entire guilds. I want you to stop them and bring them to justice. Usually I would do it but I need to track down some red players as well and quite frankly, I can't be in two places at once." Hiyoto explained as he lay out the map on one of the crystal tables that littered the square.

"MPK group? What does that mean?" Yuuki asked.

"It means Monster Player Kill or in simple words, using monsters, traps and environments to kill people. They usually are a bunch of green players who maliciously feed faulty information to low-levelled groups of people to kill them or set off spawn traps and leave them there." Kirito's voice was strangely cold and hard.

"Yes. This group is the best at it. They are known as the Tormentors United. Their first ever victim was the guild Moonlit Black Cats. They told one of their members that the labyrinth of Floor 29 was easy to grind and that in a secret room, there would be unimaginable wealth. They tripped the secret door open and watched as the entire guild went in. They were slaughtered in that trap room. No one survived. Ever since, they've been using similar trap rooms to slaughter other guilds and parties." Hiyoto explained, pointing towards the location of the secret trap room that killed the Moonlit Black Cats.

I looked over at Kirito and was shocked at what I saw. His face was filled with cold fury, his eyes seemingly giving off glares that could kill at the secret room. His hands were squeezed into tight fists.

"Kirito, are you ok?" I asked, concerned about how tightly he was gripping the table.

"I'm. Fine. Yuuki." Kirito said with a strained voice, slowly loosening his grip on the table.

"I have gotten word that they have managed to trick another guild, Primordial Forces, into fighting this floor's field boss; Urklassh, Captain of the Dwarven Fist. They are severely underleveled and will not stand a chance against him. I suspect members of the Tormentors United will be there to witness the deaths of their victims. I want you to save the Primordial Forces and send those MPKers to prison with this teleport crystal. The prison authorities are offering quite a large sum of Col to bring these guys to justice." Hiyoto handed us a large, rectangular prism-like blue crystal. "Good luck!" Hiyoto said, waving his hand and fare-welling us.

 **~Floor 29, Centre of Labyrinth, 4:00pm Game Time~**

"So, they're supposed to be here right?" I asked Kirito who was rigidly walking through the labyrinth, his hand constantly hovering his sword. Kirito simply nodded, not breaking his momentum. A ghastly scream pierced through the air like a spear. This scream spurred Kirito and I onward. We broke into a full out sprint, running towards the source of that scream. Turning right in another corridor, we soon saw the source. A group of five players were facing a giant dwarven warrior who was literally armed to the teeth with weapons. The dwarf had to axes strapped on its back, two metal shields with sharp edges strapped to its forearms, two daggers seemed to be sheathed on both sides of its waist, spiked boots with sharp blades sticking out of its soles, metal teeth capable of crushing anything and two short swords in its hands. Yeah, I wasn't kidding about it being armed to the teeth.

Glancing at the healthbar of the literal walking armoury, I saw that it was the field boss Urklassh, Captain of the Dwarven Fist.

"I feel like Kayaba chose the wrong name for this boss. It should've been Urklassh, Armoury of the Dwarves! I mean look at him, he literally is a walking armoury, or at least a sentient fortress." I joked, drawing out my sword.

"They're in serious trouble Yuuki! Take out the boss, I'll help them escape. I have faith in you!" Kirito said hurriedly before sprinting headlong to the group of five that were being slapped around by Urklassh.

Taking a glance at the guild in trouble, I noticed that they had pretty outdated armour that weren't strong enough to take on field bosses. Not only that, but they seemed to lack in any sort of tank. The five figures wielded an assortment of weapons; spears, swords, daggers and axes but none of them had a shield. All of them had their health bars within the yellow zone. They were trying to dodge the field boss' attack but were failing miserably, either terribly misinterpretation when and how the boss was going to attack or getting completely blindsided by a surprise attack. I watched as Urklassh slammed his shield into one of the players who had misinterpreted the attack cue and jumped away too soon. The player in white was sent sprawling onto the ground, axe knocked out of his reach and no way of evading the oncoming attack Urklassh was about to unleash.

I ran towards the player sword in hand, but I knew that there was no way I could save him. Just as Urklassh's sword arced towards the player, a black flash flickered past the blade. Urklassh's sword thudded next to the white player, scaring the life out of the player, but sparing him from a grimmer fate. Urklassh, clearly confused by what happened, activated one of his 'special' abilities. His eyes gleamed red while his swords emitted a soft blue light. The boss' hands became no more than a blur as it rapidly hacked and slashed at the player. But none of the strokes ever reached the player. Just in front of the player was a black figure, swiftly and seemingly effortlessly deflecting and parrying each strike. After a few seconds, the black figure used a sword skill to disarm the dwarf, sending his two swords flying through the air.

"Yuuki, switch!" the black figure cried.

As if someone suddenly pushed a button in my head, I snapped into action, charging straight at Urklassh. I cut at his knees with my sword before doing a rapid criss-cross attack on the dwarf's chest, leaving two glowing marks. Seeking to end this battle soon, so that Kirito and I could catch the perpetrators, I decided to use my ace in the hole. Twirling my sword in my hands, I lunged at the dwarven warrior, rapidly stabbing diagonally from top left to bottom right, then inversely. As I finished stabbing, my sword ignited into purple flames, consuming my sword as I continued my assault. Using my sword, I retraced the stab wounds I inflicted with two quick slashes before switching directions and making two more sword strokes; one vertically and one horizontally. To end my assault, I drew my sword backwards, once again pooling all of my energy and strength into one final thrust. As the sword came in contact with the dwarf, a massive explosion occurred, disintegrating the boss' health and reducing it to a shower of multi-coloured prisms that floated aimlessly. Turning back, I saw that Kirito had rescued all five players. These five players stood, jaws wide open and eyes unblinking as they saw the sheer power of my unique skill.

"Th-Thank you for re-rescuing us!" One of the players stepped forward.

"No worries. You guys should probably head back to the main settlement to restock, regroup and rest." I advised, smiling at them.

After a few minutes of thank yous and admiration of our skill, the five players of the Primordial Forces walked off into the clear crystal corridors of the labyrinth.

"Now we need to find the culprits." I said, looking around.

"I've already found them. They're hiding behind the left junction in front of us, observing the battle. Perhaps we should go visit them?" Kirito said, walking off towards the location he indicated. Following Kirito, we soon found a small band of players huddled along the wall. When they saw us, they tried to run away, panic and guilty expressions evident on their faces.

"Oh no you don't!" I growled, running to intercept them. Since my level was higher than any of them, my agility skill was naturally higher than any of theirs. I out ran them and blocked them off, preventing them from escaping.

"Please, have mercy on us. We mean no harm, we promise we won't do it again!" the members of the guild Tormentors United pleaded.

"Why should we? You mislead players to their deaths on purpose to satisfy your sick sense of humour. You belong in prison. We're just here to escort you home." I snapped, raising my sword towards them. They immediately backed off, getting closer to Kirito, who was on the other side of the corridor.

"We have lots of Col! We'll give you 1,000,000 Col if you let us go." They continued to plea their innocence, downplaying their roles to being misinformed information brokers.

"You really are a pathetic bunch, aren't you?" I responded, walking closer towards them.

"Who are you people? What do you want from us?" Their pleas turned into desperate cries of fear.

"Do you remember your very first victim? The small band of 6 that you 'told' that Floor 29 was easy to farm and plentiful in riches. The same group that fell for the secret mob trap that you opened. They were slaughtered. Under-geared and under-leveled. But of course, you knew that. However, you forgot to check for survivors. What do I want, you ask? To avenge them. For the murderers of the Moonlit Black Cats to be brought to justice." Kirito stepped forward ominously, his black clothing giving off very creepy reflections on the clear crystal walls and floor. Kirito whipped out the giant teleport crystal Hiyoto had given us earlier, showing it to the guild.

"Here is your ticket home. To where you belong." Holding the crystal higher, he started to state some commands. "Large teleport crystal, teleport every player within 5m radius of us except for players Kirito and Yuuki." The crystal started to hum, as if acknowledging Kirito's command. Two bright lasers shot out from the crystal, tracing a circle with the parameters Kirito had given. After finishing, the crystal enveloped itself in a bright white light before filling the insides of the previously traced circle with the same light. Except for Kirito and I, all the other players were enveloped with this bright light before melting away, fading away into nothingness. The crystal shattered, having finished its duty and there was no trace of what had occurred.

"Well, that was certainly something." I commented. Kirito looked at me.

"Yes, it was. We probably should report back to Hiyoto." Kirito responded, his tone seemingly relieved. _"Relieved? I wonder if… he used to be in the Black Moonlit Cats. He mentioned how there was a survivor of that massacre. He also seemed very angry and vengeful when Hiyoto mentioned they were the people who set them up."_

 **~Floor 29, Crystal City Square, 4:00 Game Time~**

"Well, congratulations on bringing them to justice! As I mentioned before, the prison authorities were offering a large sum of Col for those who brought them to justice. Confiscating the Tormentors United's treasury certainly upped their reward. And that reward now rightfully belongs to you two." Hiyoto congratulated, before sending us a trade request.

Kirito gagged, and I gasped when we saw the 'reward'.

"Are you sure that's the right amount?" Kirito asked, clearly shocked at the reward being given to us.

"Yeah, one million Col. That's right." Hiyoto cheerfully replied.

"I-I…Thank you!" I said, giving Hiyoto a hug.

"Yu-Yuuki, you're literally crushing me." Hiyoto weakly said. I let go, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, you guys might want to go soon. A lot of people will be searching for you after all." Hiyoto said with a small smile.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked.

"Do you guys live under a rock or something? Some of the people from Primordial Forces recorded your epic unique skill and Kirito's amazing reaction time. As soon as they got back to settlement, they submitted it to SAO Today who published a 'little' article about it. But you're lucky they didn't actually catch your faces. All they had was the clothing you two wore. Now the entire populace of SAO will be hunting you down to learn more about you two and your abilities." Hiyoto explained.

"Welp, that means no more staying at inns then." Kirito said, before giving an amused grin.

"Well, we could use the reward we were graciously given by Hiyoto to buy a house in secret." I suggested. "I know a perfect place that has everything we need on Floor 50." I continued.

"Let's buy it then. But before that, I need to do something by myself. You can go buy the house first… I'll meet you there after I'm done. It shouldn't take too long." Kirito said, turning towards the Teleport Gate.

 **Kirito's POV**

Turning to the Teleport Gate I muttered, "Floor 27." In a flash of light, I appeared at Floor 27, with its peaceful country setting. Walking towards the inn of Ronbaru, I remembered the good times I had experienced with the Moonlit Black Cats. I still remembered the change that had occurred within me after joining them. I felt free, no longer burdened about how to survive. I learnt how to live life to the fullest even when I was trapped in a game where a mistake could cost your life. I soon reached my destination. A giant oak tree, near the Ronbaru inn where the Moonlit Black Cats established their temporary headquarters. Facing the tree, I began to speak.

"Hey…Sachi, members of the Moonlit Black Cats. I finally avenged you. The guild who mislead you Ducker, Tormentors United, have been sent to prison where they can no longer hurt anyone else. …I still blame myself each day for never telling you my true level. Perhaps I could've stopped you guys from entering the trap room if you knew my level. Or perhaps I could've stopped us from grinding on Floor 29 in the first place. I'm… I'm sorry for all of this. You all lost your lives because of my mistakes and the cruelty of others. I…promise…that I won't let anyone else die by my mistakes. If anything, I will die for my own. You guys will always be remembered in my heart. For changing me to who I am, for making me realise that no matter what, I should live my life to the fullest."

I simply closed my eyes after speaking, enjoying the simple silence and reflecting on everything. That silence was soon interrupted by a single footstep. Drawing my sword in one fluid motion, I spun around.

"Who's there? Step out now or else."

A figure emerged from the shadows.

 **Yuuki's POV**

After Kirito had left, I used the Teleport Gate to go to Floor 50. Once I arrived, I walked through the streets of Algade until I came towards the border of the city. There, the landscape became more serene. The uneven cobblestone road lead towards the eastern gate of Algade. On both sides of the road were neat and simple houses, most of them empty due to the fact that this floor was relatively new and the expensive prices. I chose one of the more inconspicuous houses in that street and entered it. A prompt popped in front of me:

* * *

You are going to buy [Housing] 25 Eastern Gate Road.

Cost: 850,000 Col

Are you sure about this?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

Tapping on yes, I saw my Col balance drop and was able to enter the house. After marking it as 'home' on my quick-navigation settings, I opened my menu and went to the friends option. Looking at my list, I quickly found Kirito's name and tapped on it. I soon found what I was looking for. Where he was currently. Kirito was on Floor 27, in the very same position as he was when Asuna first told me about the friend tracking option. Closing my menu, I decided to go after Kirito.

I walked up the streets of Ronbaru until I saw a black figure seemingly talking to a tree. Not wanting to interrupt Kirito, I ducked behind an alleyway and listened.

"…I still blame myself each day for never telling you my true level. Perhaps I could've stopped you guys from entering the trap room if you knew my level. Or perhaps I could've stopped us from grinding on Floor 29 in the first place. I'm… I'm sorry for all of this. You all lost your lives because of my mistakes and the cruelty of others. I…promise…that I won't let anyone else die by my mistakes. If anything, I will die for my own. You guys will always be remembered in my heart. For changing me to who I am, for making me realise that no matter what, I should live my life to the fullest."

Then Kirito was silent. _"Was he talking about the Moonlit Black Cats? That means…of course. That's why he went solo. That's why he was consumed with absolute fury when he heard that the Tormentors United were partially, no fully responsible for the massacre. He's been through so much."_ I thought to myself, contemplating Kirito's words. Sighing I inadvertently took a step towards Kirito. The sound of a sword leaving its sheath broke the silence.

"Who's there? Step out now or else."

Knowing I was caught, I stepped out of the alleyway, towards him. Kirito immediately lowered his sword, a sad, mournful look filled his eyes.

"You heard everything?" He asked with a defeated tone.

I nodded. Kirito sighed.

"I suppose you'll leave me then. You know the truth. I'm a failure who gets everyone who works with me killed. Diabel, then the Moonlit Black Cats. I fear that the next time someone dies, it'll be you and your blood would be on my hands." Kirito said.

"Leave you? Are you crazy? Why would I do that? You're my friend who not only taught me everything about this world on the first day and saved my life when I was unconscious. Without you, I'd already be dead. See, with you I feel safe, not threatened. Plus, remember the promise we made to each other at the very beginning? That we would make it together until the game is beaten? I intend to keep that promise." I said, walking towards Kirito. I embraced Kirito. Kirito was rigid at first, shocked at my hug before he relaxed into it.

"I don't deserve a friend like you. Thank you, for comforting and helping me." Kirito whispered before breaking off the hug.

"Now, now, let's do away with the negativity. We gotta go to our new house before we get swamped with our _new_ fans." My cheery voice seemed to free Kirito through his thoughts of sadness.

"Ok then! You lead the way" Kirito said, walking off with me towards the teleport gate.

* * *

 **Ok. I might've lied there when I said this chapter would be much shorter. Oh well. This chapter was quite hard for me to write since I wanted to further Kirito and Yuuki's friendship by having them share their own inner demons, but it was hard to make them retain their own character/personality while doing so (I still think some parts were slightly out of character).**

 **Anyway, another piece of depressing news. I'll be away, for a week to go camping and so no upload next week (Sorry!). But watch this space as I may release a draft version of Chapter 7 below this AN.**

 **As always, feel free to criticise, review or give feedback on this story. All reviews are welcomed!  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
**

 **Well then, I'll see you in a fortnight for another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you!**

 **~Herosassin**

* * *

 **To compensate for the lack of updating for this week, I have decided to post a sneak peak to the new chapter I am working on.  
** **Once again, I'm sorry for letting you, my dear readers down by making you wait.  
** **Anyway, here is the preview:**

* * *

 **Zekken, the Sword Saint**

 **~Floor 50, Algade, 5:00pm Game Time~**

 **Kirito's POV**

Materialising into the Teleport Gate of Algade, I quickly glanced at my surroundings. Yuuki was right beside me. The main teleport area was empty, with no one in sight. Sighing with relief, I walked towards the dark entrance of an alleyway.

"Where are you going?" Yuuki asked, noticing that I had taken a different route from her.

"Don't you remember that we left our most powerful swords in the hands of Agil who promised us that it would be done in a few hours?" I asked, confused about her query.

"I…um…forgot about that." Yuuki admitted sheepishly, before smiling once again.

"Well, I'm glad you remembered! Otherwise, we would've effectively lost our swords, not by monsters or durability but by our own memories." Yuuki cheerfully said before popping right next to me.

"Ok, I guess it's my turn to lead." I said before walking towards the dark partially lit alleyway. After navigating for a few minutes, Yuuki and I reached Agil's store, golden beams of lights streaming from the window displays which showed many different types of intricate weapons. Stepping inside, we were greeted by the tired voice of Agil, who looked like he just did a grindathon for three days straight.

"Hey Yuuki, hey Kirito! I finally finished your enhancements. Even with your god-level materials, it still took five frickin' hours to enhance! Without any breaks! Do you know how tiring that can be?" Agil said, collecting our swords from one of his top shelves.

"Yeah, we do. We've grinded for a day straight without sleeping or taking breaks. Man, by the time we were done, we ready to drop dead voluntarily." Yuuki answered, smiling as she looked at her new sword. The plain and simple sheath of the Absolute Obsidian reflected the shop's light with a bright glow, as if to show the world that it was more than what it seemed. The sheath itself was dark purple with small dull runes engraved near the very top, where the hilt met with the sheath. The hilt of the sword was black, studded with dull purple gripping that wrapped around the handle of the sword.

Picking up my own sword, I looked up at Agil and asked how much Col I should pay him.

"Um…see, I'm not sure either as you mainly supplied the enhancement materials." Agil said, surprising me with his response.

"Maybe this should suffice?" Yuuki inputted cheerfully, sending Agil a trade request.

Agil blanched when he received the trade request. "Wh-Wh-What?!" Agil stammered, his eyes widening.

* * *

 **I'll update on Saturday! Then probably another on the following Wednesday!  
Until then, Peace!  
~Herosassin**


	7. Chapter 7: Gaining a Reputation

**AN: Hi! *gets hit with a rotten tomato* Hey what was that for?**

 ***Audience starts booing***

 **I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know, that I promi- *gets hit with another rotten tomato in the face***

 **Who was that? Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't upload on Saturday. I had a mini-writer's block plus I was quite tired. And I didn't upload yesterday because I was still finishing the chapter.**

 **So… can you forgive me?**

 ***Readers chant: "Burn him on the stake!" Herosassin gulps***

 **Wait..Wait! I'll try do a make up ch- *gets hit with a third tomato***

 **Will you stop that?**

 **Anyway, I'll try to upload more regularly since I'll be on holidays soon. Once again, I'm so sorry for letting you guys down. Please don't kill me? *Herosassin whimpers as a barrage of swords, pitchforks and tomatoes were sent flying through the air towards him***

* * *

 **Time to respond to my dear reviewers:**

 **RedBurningDragon:** " _So it was Assassin. Nice chap the end was really good"_

 **A: Thanks RedBurningDragon! Who/what is 'it' and who is this Assassin character?**

 **YuukiKirigaya04:** _"Awesome chapter! Please update soon this is really good. What's the next chapter called? Yuuki out! PEACE! V"_

 **A: Hey YuukiKirigaya04, thanks! Imma update now :) Anyway, you'll find out the chapter name…on the top of the page.**

 **jorrdy12:** _"Pretty awesome chap, can't wait for more. I believe i know what Yuuki is going to trade to Agil"_

 **A: Thanks jorrdy12! Do you really know what Yuuki is gonna trade?**

 **The Rupture:** _"If there's no Tsuba Gaeshi what about shirou version of Nine live Shooting Hundred Heads, its an Assault of 8 strikes delivered at god speed levels. I'm sure it qualify as sword since there's no magic on it?_

 **A: Thanks The Rupture. I'll take that into consideration. Maybe I'll give it to Asuna….**

 **And that's all the reviews from the last chapter!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Karahara.**

* * *

 **~Floor 50, Algade, 5:00pm Game Time~**

 **Kirito's POV**

Materialising into the Teleport Gate of Algade, I quickly glanced at my surroundings. Yuuki was right beside me. The main teleport area was empty, with no one in sight. Sighing with relief, I walked towards the dark entrance of an alleyway.

"Where are you going?" Yuuki asked, noticing that I had taken a different route from her.

"Don't you remember that we left our most powerful swords in the hands of Agil, who promised us that it would be done in a few hours?" I asked, confused about her query.

"I…um…forgot about that." Yuuki admitted sheepishly, before smiling once again.

"Well, I'm glad you remembered! Otherwise, we would've effectively lost our swords, not by monsters or durability but by our own memories." Yuuki cheerfully said before popping right next to me.

"Ok, I guess it's my turn to lead." I said before walking towards the dark partially lit alleyway. After navigating for a few minutes, Yuuki and I reached Agil's store, golden beams of lights streaming from the window displays which showed many different types of intricate weapons. Stepping inside, we were greeted by the tired voice of Agil, who looked like he just did a grindathon for three days straight.

"Hey Yuuki, hey Kirito! I finally finished your enhancements. Even with your god-level materials, it still took five frickin' hours to enhance! Without any breaks! Do you know how tiring that can be?" Agil said, collecting our swords from one of his top shelves.

"Yeah, we do. We've grinded for a day straight without sleeping or taking breaks. Man, by the time we were done, we ready to drop dead voluntarily." Yuuki answered, smiling as she looked at her new sword. The plain and simple sheath of the Absolute Obsidian reflected the shop's light with a bright glow, as if to show the world that it was more than what it seemed. The sheath itself was dark purple with small dull runes engraved near the very top, where the hilt met with the sheath. The hilt of the sword was black, studded with dull purple gripping that wrapped around the handle of the sword.

Picking up my own sword, I looked up at Agil and asked how much Col I should pay him.

"Um…see, I'm not sure either as you mainly supplied the enhancement materials." Agil said, surprising me with his response.

"Maybe this should suffice?" Yuuki inputted cheerfully, sending Agil a trade request.

Agil blanched when he received the trade request. "Wh-Wh-What?!" Agil stammered, his eyes widening.

"What did you offer him Yuuki?" I asked warily.

"I just offered him the item drop I got from that field boss as well as 200 grand Col." Yuuki nonchalantly answered, still looking at Agil.

"So, do you accept or what?" Yuuki asked, completely oblivious to what was wrong with her request.

"Yuuki, do you understand how basic economics works?" I questioned, mentally facepalming myself.

"Of course I do! I simply am giving Agil a huge discreet sum of money to not blab about our location. That particular sum of money also covers the cost of enhancing our swords and the axe is for him since he's our friend." Yuuki explained, folding her arms.

"Wow, you really thought this through huh." I said apologetically.

"Agil, thanks for enhancing our swords and not telling everyone who we are. We'll recommend them to your store if our identities ever get found out." Yuuki cheerfully said before grabbing her sheathed sword and attaching it to her waist. I followed suit, strapping the sheathed Elucidator onto my back before following Yuuki out of the shop.

"Now it's your turn to lead us to our house Yuuki."

"Just follow me. Try to keep up." Yuuki taunted before breaking off into a sprint. I ran after Yuuki through the narrow, dimly lit alleys of Algade, following her dark figure. After a few minutes, Yuuki and I stepped into a large cobblestone road that lazily meandered towards the eastern gate of Algade. A marvellous and stunning sunset view filled my vision, the soft orange beams of light enveloping my vision.

"It's a beautiful view isn't it?" Yuuki said softly. "But we mustn't stop and gawk. Otherwise we'll have crowds chasing us down for our autographs. Our house is close by anyway and it has a good view as well." Yuuki continued before taking my hand and guiding me towards one of the many houses lined up along the road. One particular house caught my eye. Its exterior walls were tinged light purple while the roof was glazed with black. The door was light blue, with a few small concrete steps leading up to it.

"Here we are, our new home that has everything we need!" Yuuki exclaimed. She looked behind her shoulders before opening the door and gesturing for me to come in with her.

"Isn't the colour scheme a bit…obvious?" I asked, closing the door behind us.

"Well, not really. Considering most people would think we are in the lower floors and that house prices here are pretty high, meaning not many people are able to afford living on this floor, I say we are pretty safe from paparazzi." Yuuki responded walking towards a lavender coloured armchair and sitting on it. "So, how do you like our new house?"

"It looks nice. But perhaps we splurged a bit on a kitchen? I don't think either of us will be using the kitchen." I said, looking around the room I was in. The area Yuuki and I were in was clearly a kitchen/living room hybrid, with a decent sized open kitchen on one end of the room while the other had a small dining table, some armchairs and two fluffy sofas. The walls themselves were a pale cream colour, which seemed to only highlight the furniture items that were placed around this room in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. Past the kitchen was a long corridor with a large bathroom at the end. There were two rooms on either side of the corridor, one with a purple-coloured door frame while the other was jet black. I assumed the door frames were colour coded to signify whose room is whose.

"Not really. I mean I can cook. I'm 800/1000 in cooking. Its not great but with a proper kitchen, I can hopefully make some nice stuff and level up my cooking skills." Yuuki said, sinking into her armchair.

"I honestly never thought you could cook." I commented, walking towards one of the sofas.

"Just because I'm good at fighting with a sword doesn't mean I don't take time to enhance my other skills. Besides, I enjoy cooking. I just never have the resources nor time to do it much." Yuuki said.

"Oh yeah, there's another boss meeting tomorrow. Do you think we should go?" I asked.

"Why not? I'm not surprised that they've already found the boss room. The past few floors have been cleared within a week. I guess once they have momentum, they keep going." Yuuki got up from her chair and headed towards her room. "Well, see you tomorrow Kirito!" Yuuki said to me before disappearing to her room. After a few minutes, I too went to my room and got ready for tomorrow's meeting.

 **~The Next Day, 7:00am Game Time~**

I woke up to the smell of food being cooked. And it smelt heavenly. Getting out of bed, I walked out of my room and was greeted with the sight of Yuuki in a short sleeved, violet dress and a white apron splattered with splotches of what looked like oil, busily cooking in the kitchen area.

"What are you cooking?" I asked, wanting to know what exactly it was that gave off such heavenly smell.

"Well, you'll see in about 20 seconds. Until then, just sit at the dining table." Yuuki responded, not bothering to look at me while she busily handled a frying pan. Complying with Yuuki's orders, I headed towards the dining table, sitting down and waiting in anticipation. As promised, Yuuki brought two plates of steaming food to the dining table, one for her and the other for me. As she set down the plates, I noticed that she had made bacon and eggs with some slices of toast, all of which were cooked to perfection. Yuuki soon took off her apron before joining me at the dining table, sitting directly opposite me, her crimson eyes fixated on my face.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in." Yuuki encouraged, before turning to her own plate. I quickly stacked the eggs and bacon on top of the toast before taking a bite. To be honest, that was probably the best food I've eaten for a long time. Yuuki later told me that she'd never seen someone eat food so quickly.

 **Yuuki's POV**

"I guess that means that my food is ok?" I asked, trying to contain my laughter from seeing Kirito eating at the speed of sound.

"If that's what you call ok, I don't think my tastebuds can handle 'good'." Kirito responded with a smile. "I didn't know you had any other clothes excluding your battle gear." Kirito said, after a moments silence.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, glaring at Kirito.

"Well, I never knew you actually owned any other clothing items except for your armour. You're always so focused on clearing the game you know?" Kirito answered, seemingly unfazed by my glare.

I scowled before responding, "Just because I'm focused on clearing the game doesn't mean I don't buy some in-game luxuries to make it more bearable, living in here. Plus, do you know how uncomfortable wearing battle gear all day is?"

"Fine, fine, you win. Let's go to the floor boss meeting then." Kirito said, putting his hands up in the air as if surrendering.

"Not before you help me clean up the kitchen." I said with a small smirk.

"What!? Why? You're the one who cooked breakfast." Kirito asked.

"And you're the one who ate the breakfast. So you have a part in this. You're going to help me or else…" I stopped and pretended to think. "I'll stop cooking for you and make you watch me eat my own food." I said with a sly smile.

"Wow, you are cruel. Are you sure you're still Yuuki?" Kirito said, pretending to be hurt. With that, Kirito walked over to help me bring the plates and pan to the sink where it automatically started washing the plates.

"See? That wasn't so hard. Now give me two minutes and I'll be ready." I turned towards my room and started walking. When I reached my room, I quickly equipped all my gear, feeling the comfortable and familiar weight of my sword on my hip. Stepping out of my room, I walked towards Kirito and followed him out of the door.

 **~Floor 51, Temple of C'Caiglth, 10:00am Game Time~**

"And we're here!" Kirito exclaimed, walking towards what seemed like an ancient Mayan or Aztec temple. After walking for half an hour in a very dense rainforest, we finally made it to the supposed meeting place for the boss meeting. Along the way, we had to fight swarms of mutant ticks, leeches and giant praying mantises. While they were easy to deal with; our weapons and skills placed us into a category leagues away from the intended skill level of these monsters, the number of monsters per encounter was tiring. Swarms of twenty or more would either viciously ambush us or simply approach us, attempting to kill us. And if that wasn't bad enough, Kayaba decided it would've been funny to include crazy, creepy tribal warriors that excelled at long ranged to combat to fight us. They were elites, using blowpipes or bows to shoot at us. Honestly, without Sasaki's training, we would've died as solo players on this floor.

"Halt and identify." A player dressed in the standard Knights of the Blood Oath uniform was standing near the edge of the forest, where Kirito and I were standing. The knight had a bored expression on his face, as if he was shafted the worse possible job in the whole raiding party group. Which of course, he was.

"I'm Yuuki and this is Kirito. I regularly come to boss meetings while Kirito has only started to reattend them. We're both very capable players." I introduced cheerily, trying to somewhat entertain the player.

"Guild?"

"We're not in a guild. We solo together."

"Then you can't attend." The knight stated with no emotion.

"What do you mean we can't attend?" Kirito asked, giving off a confused expression in light of this new information.

The knight simply sighed, as if preparing himself for a long rant.

"All players who want to be part of the raid group have to be in a guild. This is to stop meaningless and preventable deaths of players who overestimate their skills or do not work well with other people. _Especially_ solo players. This was implemented after the heavy casualties of Floor 50, with the vice commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath's advice."

"Are. You. Kidding. Me?" Kirito said menacingly, clearly annoyed by this new implementation. "Fine, we'll go make our own guild, then we'll join again!"

"No, you may not. Only guilds who are part of the Clearing Alliance can take part in boss raids. That means you will have to join the Knights of the Blood Oath if you want to go on the boss raid." The knight droned on seemingly prepared for that particular response.

"Surely they can make an exception for us? Your vice-commander and I are good friends. I understand that this policy is to prevent deaths, but you're also blocking powerful players from helping out." I reasoned, trying to strike a deal with the knight.

The white-clad knight simply chuckled before responding sarcastically, "Yeah, and I'm Kayaba's son."

"Could you at least ask your vice-commander to come talk to us?" Kirito asked.

"I don't know if I should waste our vice commander's time by telling her two weak players want an audience with her. Tell you what, if you can beat me in a duel, I'll go ask for her. Deal?" the knight said mockingly, still believing that we were weak, upstart players. He sent me a duel request.

* * *

[Knights of the Blood Oath] [Player] Milkins challenges you to a [Half Loss] duel.

Do you accept?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

"Deal." I said, pressing the 'yes' button. The message disappeared, and a countdown appeared in between us, starting at ten. I drew my sword, holding it in front of me. The white-clad knight, I think his name was Milkins, also drew his sword and readied his big, rectangular shield. As the countdown ticked towards zero, I studied my opponent's stance and weapons. _"A basic sword and shield combo. He's a tank, meaning that he won't be agile but will have a lot of health."_ As the countdown hit zero, I held my sword behind my head, activating a sword skill. My sword glowed behind my head before I ran head on towards Milkins. Milkins simply grinned when he saw I was running towards him, holding his shield out, ready to block my attack. Sadly for him, I was not the weak, pathetic player he thought I was. When my blade collided with Milkin's white shield, he was sent flying through the air before landing on the dusty grounds that surrounded the temple. Before Milkins could even get back up, I ran at him, unleashing a rapid combo of three hits that reduced his health into the yellow zone.

* * *

[Player] Yuuki is the winner! Remember to shake hands with your opponent!

* * *

Milkins groaned as he saw the message, knowing that I practically wiped the floor with him.

"Well, I guess a deal's a deal." With that, Milkins drank a red potion before heading towards the entrance of the pyramid-shaped temple. Milkins only got halfway when Asuna and another man briskly walked to meet them.

"What is with the commotion?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

"Sorry to disturb you, vice-commander Asuna. These two solo players requested that you see them to make an exception to your guilds only policy. I told them that if they beat me in a duel, then I know they are legit." Milkins explained.

Asuna peered at us before widening her eyes.

"Yuuki? Kirito? Why are you here?" she asked.

"Well, we wanted to join the boss raid but your new policy seems to be holding us back." I said.

"Well, it's a good policy to keep people safe! Plus, I know you guys are more than proficient, but I can't just waive my policy for you two. It would be better for the whole community of SAO if you just joined our guild, you get to do boss raids and we get to have two very powerful members." Asuna offered.

"No." Kirito suddenly said.

"What?"

"I won't join a guild. I can't speak for Yuuki but I will not join any guild." There was a dangerous edge in Kirito's voice.

"I won't either. I'll stay with Kirito, soloing." I added.

"Why?"

"Personal reasons." Kirito said with a guarded tone.

"And I'm sticking with Kirito since we made a promise to look out for each other." I said, looking at Asuna. "Anyway, you can't stop us from joining the raid group. You know what? Let's duel; if I win a half loss duel with you and your friend beside you, Kirito and I can join the Clearers Alliance as solo members who can vouch for other solo members. If I lose, then I'll join your guild."

"What about Kirito?" Asuna asked, looking at Kirito.

"Wait, Yuuki. I don't think challenging SAO's top guild's champions is a good idea. Maybe we should back out, let things simmer over and wait till they really need us. Plus, I don't want more…followers." Kirito advised, a concerned tone in his voice.

"Kirito, sometimes you have to fight to get your point across. And our point is that we aren't joining any guilds, and no one is going to stand in our way of helping to clear the game." Kirito was silent for a moment as he thought about my words.

"I'll do the same as Yuuki." Asuna looked at us with a victorious smile. "Because I know Yuuki and I won't lose to both of you." Kirito continued, wiping Asuna's smile.

"I think I'll go first Kirito, gotta set the bar high!" I said, stepping forward towards Asuna and the other man beside her. "So, who wants to duel me first?"

"I'll duel her. I bet she's all talk. She'll be easy." The man sneered, grabbing his sword from his sheath. I quickly sent a half-loss duel request to said man, whose name I discovered was Nicolai. Nicolai simply pressed the accept button before standing in a fight stance. I followed suit and readied myself.

 **Kirito's POV**

" _Kirito, sometimes you have to fight to get your point across."_ Those very words echoed through my mind as I watched Nicolai and Yuuki square off. I honestly felt somewhat sorry for Nicolai. _"He'll have no idea what hit him"_ I thought as I watched the timer hit zero. While I guessed that Yuuki would win, I didn't expect her to win within four moves. As soon as the duel started, Yuuki charged at the white-clad knight, swinging her sword at him. Nicolai blocked with his long, red sword only to be disarmed when Yuuki slammed the hilt of her blade into his sword hand. The blow caused Nicolai's hand to involuntarily let go of his sword, effectively disarming him. After disarming Nicolai, all it took were two lightning fast swipes of Yuuki's blade and Nicolai's health depleted to the yellow zone. And all of this only took seven seconds.

"Yay! I won. Now Asuna, I believe you're next." Yuuki gave a grin.

Asuna didn't respond for a full ten seconds, probably still comprehending how Yuuki managed to dispatch one of her high-ranked players in seven seconds.

"Alright then. Time to duel." Asuna finally said, sending Yuuki a duel request. Yuuki pressed the accept button before readying herself once again. _"This will be interesting"_ I thought as I looked at the two women facing off each other. _"Asuna is actually pretty decent and compared to Nicolai, she's leagues above him. I wonder how long Asuna will last against Yuuki."_ As the countdown hit once again hit zero, the spectacle of colours began.

 **Asuna's POV**

I expected Yuuki to go and charge at me as soon as the countdown ticked to zero. So, I braced myself, ready to dodge any incoming attack. But no attacks came. In fact, for the first ten seconds of the duel, both of us were just standing there, waiting for the other to make a move. _"Well, this is very anti-climactic."_

"Are we going to attack or are we just going to stand there until the timer hits zero?" Yuuki asked, shifting her stance slightly so that she was facing slightly sideways from me.

"Well, if you say so." I responded before running straight at Yuuki. The purple-haired girl's eyes widened as she saw me, clearly underestimating my agility. Then Yuuki smiled a feral grin, sending chills down my spine. _"Was she baiting me to attack first? In that case, I'll do an unexpected and use my skills straight away."_ I held my rapier close towards me, activating my sword skill which glowed blue. Waiting until I was barely half a meter away from her, I activated my skill, unleashing a fusillade of rapid stabs at her. What I didn't notice was that Yuuki also had activated a sword skill which glowed green. As I performed my skill, Yuuki's blade arced downwards, swiftly parrying all of my stabs before counter-attacking with a slash towards me. I instinctively stepped backwards, the blade just narrowly hitting me in the shoulder. Yuuki looked mildly impressed, as if she was expecting that her counter attack would've done more than a small graze to the shoulder. _"What on earth? She just parried all of my stabs in my Quadruple Pain skill. No one has that kind of skill."_

Gritting my teeth, I gripped my rapier tightly, ready for the devastating the purple-haired girl was going to unleash on me. I wasn't wrong about that thought. Yuuki rushed at me like a demon, raining blow after blow on me while I desperately defended, blocking, parrying, dodging. Each blow sent me staggering back, giving myself less time to recover while other nicked my body, slowly lowering my health. _"There's no way I can beat Yuuki with pure skill. She's just too good; too strong, too skilled and is almost at the same level as me in agility. I'll have to play dirty if I want to win."_ Ideas ran in my head, each of them hypothetically ending up with me losing. Except for one.

Running full-on at Yuuki, I quickly side-stepped to avoid an incoming strike before continuing to run, nimbly dodging her attacks until a golden opportunity rose. After evading Yuuki's deadly blows for a while, I noticed a small gap in her defences. Filled with adrenaline, I beelined for that gap, swinging at her. A flash of dark purple zipped across my vision before I saw Yuuki had somehow stopped my blow. The two of us locked blades and I took this opportunity to execute my idea. I raised my left hand slightly before punching as hard as I can at Yuuki's stomach. The purple-haired girl doubled over, breaking the engagement, stumbling backwards. I took this opportunity to finish her off using skill after skill. Cuts started to appear all over Yuuki's body and Yuuki's healthbar started to go down slowly, but steadily. _"I can't believe my tactic worked. Now I'm going to win and-"_ A ringing sound stopped my train of thought. I looked at the source of the sound, realising that Yuuki had recovered and was blocking my rapier with the flat side of her sword.

"So, you wanna play dirty huh?" Yuuki said, her crimson eyes darkening.

" _Oh crap, I'm screwed."_ I thought, backing away and getting into a defensive position. Yuuki twirled her pale purple sword, activating some sort of skill.

"Mother's Rosaio!" Yuuki shouted, before charging straight at me. Her pale sword glowed with power as she uttered what I assumed was her skill's name. Yuuki's sword seemingly danced around me, each stab, strike or slash knocking me back. But before I could recover, another hit would land, again knocking me back. After fourteen strikes, Yuuki drew her sword backwards, seemingly charging up for one final attack. Then the sword dove straight through me, exploding on contact and sending me flying.

 **Kirito's POV**

Honestly, I never expected Asuna to put up as much of a fight as she did. Then again, I could clearly see that Yuuki was holding back, never using a sword skill offensively, just using it to parry/deflect oncoming skills. That itself was beautiful to watch, like a symphony of colours, flashing and flowing towards each other. That was until the punch. When Asuna punched Yuuki, I almost lost it. Asuna played a really dirty and dishonourable tactic. If Asuna won, she would've only won because of that sucker punch. But then Yuuki surprised me. She managed to recover from the punch and hailstorm of jabs from Asuna. Then she activated her unique skill, Mother's Rosario. Why she chose to say it out loud confused me at first, until I realised that by uttering the skill's name, her sword literally ignited purple spectral flames and the runes imprinted on both her sheath and hilt glowed with conviction, changing colours every half second into a different colour. _"By uttering a skill's name, it seems that you can boost its power slightly and make it look more intimidating."_ I thought as I watched Yuuki pummel Asuna. As Yuuki landed her final blow, a massive explosion rocked the makeshift battlefield created by the players who watched from the side. An enormous dust cloud obscured both Yuuki and Asuna from my view, giving a suspenseful vibe as everyone strained to see who won the epic duel. But in my heart, I already knew who won. As soon as Yuuki used Mother's Rosario she had won the duel.

The dust cleared, revealing Yuuki helping Asuna up. Looking at their healthbars, I saw that Yuuki was close to the yellow zone while Asuna had been sent straight to the red zone. The crowd that had gathered to watch this duel of epic proportions clapped and cheered.

"Your turn Kirito, show'em your deflection skills!" Yuuki said, smiling at me.

"Kirito? You mean this _beater_ is with you? I bet he's all talk and no skill." Nicolai spat, glaring at me.

"Why don't we find out then?" I responded, sending him a duel request.

"Yes we will, you talentless _beater._ " Nicolai sneered, readying himself once more for combat.

Let's just say the battle ended very quickly. As soon as the duel started, I copied Yuuki's strategy and ran headlong at Nicolai. The knight clad in white simply raised his sword, but this time held it with both hands as if to safeguard against Yuuki's disarming tactic. Sadly for him, I wasn't going for a disarming tactic. In fact, I didn't care if he bothered to block or not. Tapping the non-lethal side of my sword twice activating my skill Phantasmal Shift, I watched as my sword started to fade and shimmer in the air, until a bare outline of my sword was visible. That was when I swung my sword at Nicolai who moved to block my strike. Sadly for him, there was nothing for him to block. My sword simply phased right through his sword, colliding full on with his body. His health immediately plummeted, and it only took another hit from the side of my blade to get him into the yellow zone, grounds for the duel to end.

Silence filled the air as I walked away from the duel, sheathing my sword. Suddenly, a huge round of applause erupted from the gathered players who watched our duel.

"Holy crap." one player commented.

"How did he do that?" another murmured.

"Is he the Black Swordsman?" a third whispered to his friend.

" _Black Swordsman? What is he on about?"_ I thought as I approached Asuna. Asuna looked at me warily, her warm, hazel eyes analysing my every move. She then opened her menu, sending me a duel request before readying herself. I accepted and once again drew my sword. This time, when the countdown finished, Asuna came running down towards me at the speed of sound. _"Why does everyone now copy Yuuki's 'charge at the opponent' strategy?"_ I thought before lifting my sword.

 **Third Person's POV**

When Asuna reached the black-clad swordsman, she started to unleash a maelstrom of thrusts, stabs and slashes. Going with the expectation of the crowd, which had gathered and formed a decently sized circle around the two duellers, the swordsman deflected, countered and blocked all of these stabs with relative ease. What impressed the crowd the most however, was the speed in which he did what he did. His sword arm and sword were a blurry mass of black, seemingly intercepting the multi-coloured attacks of Asuna with relative ease. After a span of two minutes, Kirito finally decided to end the duel by parrying one of the thrusts of Asuna with considerable foce, sending the rapier flying out of the owner's hand, effectively disarming her. With a swift blow to the abdomen, Asuna's health dropped, ending the duel.

"So, I'm guessing you're the Black Swordsman while Yuuki is Zekken, the Sword Saint?" Asuna asked.

"The Black Swordsman?"

"Zekken, the Sword Saint?"

Yuuki and Kirito asked simultaneously.

"Do you guys live under a rock? A day ago, a video was released to SAO Today featuring two players who almost dress exactly like you displaying incredible feats of skill. Two players, a girl dressed in purple and a boy dressed in all-black were fighting a floor 29 field boss. While that wasn't too much of a feat, the way they did it was. The purple-clad girl, used a never-before seen skill that consisted of a 15-hit combo ( **AN: Yes, I know Yuuki's original combo is 11-hit but I added four more extra slashes cus why not?"** ) and completely demolished the field boss, taking it out faster than anyone could, not to mention that soloing any boss above floor 20 is quite remarkable. The black-clad boy literally parried every and all of the boss' attacks with incredible speed; no one, not even the top players could do that. Then, they disappeared, not even revealing who they are to the guild they saved. That's why people started to create nicknames for these mysterious players. The Black Swordsman is pretty obvious and Zekken, which means Absolute Blade, the Sword Saint because of the girl's mastery of her sword and using a crazy and overpowered skill." Asuna explained exasperated.

"Really? Yuuki gets a badass nickname while I get some lame nickname? Heck, even Beater is cooler than the Black Swordsman if it didn't have a bad reputation." Kirito complained. Yuuki gave Kirito a playful punch to the arm.

A crowd of players started to walk towards us, making a few comments.

"Look they're Zekken and the Black Swordsman."

"Zekken is kinda hot."

"What do you mean? She's hella cute. I wonder if she'll go out with me."

Yuuki blushed but felt very uncomfortable while Kirito glared at the crowd, seemingly angry for no apparent reason.

"Well, at least we're not getting swarmed yet. Well, thanks Asuna for the duel and letting us join the Clearer's Alliance. However, I think we best be going home to avoid our…admirers." Yuuki said, grabbing a small teleport crystal. Kirito replicated the same action as Yuuki.

"Teleport Home!" Yuuki and Kirito said, disappearing as the white light consumed them, transporting them home before the crowd of players spectating could approach them, presumably to ask them to teach them their skills.

 **~Line break brought to you by overused humour~**

A mysterious person hiding in the cool shadows of the forest tapped a send button on his console. "Perfect. I have all I need now." He said to himself before heading away to an unknown location.

 **~Meeting Room 2B of the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force, 10:00am – Real Life Time, four days later~**

 **Aiko's POV**

My mother, father and I were being lead to a meeting room by a person who introduced himself as Kikuoka Seijirou, an investigator from the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force. He had said that new information from SAO had just been released regarding the players still trapped inside. My parents and I braced for the worst. Stepping inside the dimly lit meeting room, I could make out three other families waiting. The first was a group of three; a young girl probably one year younger than me. She had relatively short, black hair and a slight athletic build. She was having an intense conversation with her mother who was a kind-faced, middle aged woman with green eyes. They seemed a little bit faded, probably from worry about her child. The father was very similar to the girl, with short black hair. He was speaking comfortingly to the girl, giving her a warm look. The second family consisted of a couple in smart business dress, straight crisp suits and hardened, emotionless faces. The man had a worrying sort of expression on his face while the woman continued to be emotionless as if she had something else to do than be here. The final family consisted of a girl who looked about eighteen. She had streaks of white in her otherwise black hair, giving a Ying-Yang sort of feel. She looked around anxiously as if desperately trying to find any information about the one she cared for, who was trapped in SAO.

"May I have your attention?" Kikuoka asked, walking towards the front of the meeting room. "As you may know, I have gathered you here today because the SAO Case Victim Recuse Force has received new information regarding the trapped players. After receiving it, we had to check for any viruses but there were none. Instead, there was a status report on the current situation of the game, including who are alive, where they are and more. While I have shared relevant information to all immediate relatives of the victims in similar fashion as I am about to with you, you are a special case. See, the ones you know trapped in SAO are the top-ranking players in SAO who are actively trying to clear the game." Kikuoka paused.

Kikuoka pressed a small button, igniting what seemed to be projector. An image of a purple-haired girl with crimson red eyes appeared before us. She had a red headband on her head, a purple sword sheath on her hips and a dull purple breastplate.

"Introducing SAO's currently most powerful player, Yuuki or in real life, Yuuki Konno." I gasped, looking closer at the picture. My parents hugged me tightly as we stared at my trapped twin sister.

"She is known by the community as Zekken, the Sword Saint. She is not affiliated with any guild and is one of the only solo members to be in an alliance called the Clearer's Alliance, consisting of major guilds that coordinate to clear the game. She plays as a solo player, her only companion being Kirito who solos with her. They together are known as the Duolos. She has incredible skill with her sword and has supposedly created her own sword skill in SAO. Here is a clip of her in action."

A clip started playing, showing Yuuki facing an ugly, dwarven monster who was overstacked with weapons. We watched as Yuuki started a rapid repertoire of stabs, slashes and jabs, watching in amazement as she quickly downed the monster.

"She is also voted as SAO's second hottest idol according to a poll by SAO Today, who are an organisation similar to newspaper organisations in the real world."

The room was so silent, you could literally hear a pin drop from a few kilometres away. Kikuoka pressed the button again, changing the clip into an image of a boy, dressed fully in black with a sword sheath on his back.

"Going on, this is SAO's second most powerful player. His name is Kirito or known in real life as Kazuto Kiragaya. He is a master swordsman whose skill is almost parallel to Yuuki. He is known as the Black Swordsman because of his attire as you can see. He also is known as the beater although the reason behind it was never given. He is the second of the three solo players that are members of the Clearer's Alliance and is the one who solos with Yuuki. He is recorded to have the fastest reaction time, seen here."

Kikuoka played a clip showing the same black-haired boy moving his sword at the speed of light, seemingly deflecting/parrying/blocking lightning fast strikes from an auburn-haired girl. Once again, we were all impressed. I looked over to the families and saw the family with the younger girl watch intently. They were all smiling, their eyes twinkling. Once the clip finished, another image appeared. This time, it was of the auburn-haired girl we saw earlier fighting Kazuto.

"Next, we have Asuna, or known in real life as Asuna Yuuki. She is the vice-commander of the top guild in SAO known as the Knights of the Blood Oath. She is notoriously known as Lightning Flash Asuna and is the most agile player in SAO as of currently. She is voted as the hottest idol in SAO according to SAO Today."

I looked over and saw the two people in business attire look intently. The woman had a slight expression of disgust while the man was smiling. A clip started playing of Asuna duelling Kazuto. This time, it was in her perspective. We could see her dashing everywhere, unleashing hailstorms of jabs whenever she could. When the clip finished playing, an image appeared for the final time. A white-haired boy dressed in a dark brown cloak with two daggers by his wrists appeared.

"Finally, we have the fourth most powerful player in SAO. He is Hiyoto or known in real life as Himiragi Lamzatuo. He too is a solo player who wields a pair of daggers. He is known as the most proficient in daggers in SAO and has been recorded as the stealthiest player. He is the only other solo player who is part of the Clearer's Alliance. He is known as the Vindicator and is not as focused on clearing the game. He mainly focuses on catching red/orange players who are the equivalent in the real world to murderers and criminals."

A clip started playing showing Himiragi apprehending a player, wielding his daggers very skilfully before tying ropes around the player and teleporting away. The eighteen-year-old girl had tears in her eyes as she held her hands close to her chest.

"There we have it. Thank you for taking time away from your busy schedules to attend this. Hopefully this will keep your hopes up. We will notify you when another report is released." Kikouka concluded before showing us the way out. The young girl who I assume was the sister of Kazuto approached me shyly.

"Hey, my name is Suguha. I think I know you from our school." The younger girl said, fiddling with her hands.

"Hey, my name's Aiko. I'm the twin sister of Yuuki, who you saw. I guess your brother is Kazuto?"

"Yeah. I'm glad he's ok." The younger girl said timidly.

"So, I heard you're the best at kendo in our school, heck even in the country." I said.

Suguha blushed.

"Thank you. I heard you're the top academic in our school as well as the best chess player in the whole of Japan."

Now it was my turn to blush.

"Well, I need to go. My mother needs me back at school." Suguha said.

"Same, see you at school then!" I said before we parted, following our parents.

" _Stay strong Yuuki. I know you can beat this game. You were always the best at playing games."_

* * *

 **And that's done! Review if you want to, I'd really appreciate criticism to help me write better. Just as a hint, next chapter is gonna be episode 4 of SAO. Tell me if you think I'm too descriptive (sometimes I get carried away). I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Thanks for all of your continued support. I really appreciate it.**

 **Welp, I'll see you guys next week for another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you!**

 **~Herosassin**


	8. Chapter 8: The Dragon Tamer

**AN: Hey! I'm back!**

 **Yuuki: You're late again! What kind of writer are you?**

 **Herosassin: …**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry for the late upload. I truly am. But hey, you get a 8.5k word chapter so that's good right?**

* * *

 **Now to respond to my reviewers:**

 **ENDDRAGON369:** _Nine Lives Blade Works: Shooting the Hundred Heads is a variation of Nine Lives used by Shirou Emiya upon projecting the technique from Berserker and using it with Berserker's axe sword. Analyzing and projecting the axe-sword and copying Berserker's monstrous strength, Shirou uses Nine Lives Blade Works to attack the corrupted Berserker with a pummeling, high speed series of eight strikes. He targets and slashes the upper arm, collarbone, windpipe, temple, diaphragm, rib, testicles, and thighs simultaneously at "godspeed", faster than the speed of sound. These eight strikes destroy eighty percent of Berserker's body, but that is still not enough to stop his charge. When Berserker is halted by Illya's presence, Shirou has time to perform a lance-like thrust through the heart as the ninth strike, ending the battle that lasted merely an instant._

 _Saber: Knight of the Sword and Heroic Spirit of the Sword. A jack-of-all-trades warrior. Agile and powerful in close quarters; extremely adept at swordsmanship._

 _Archer:Knight of the Bow and Heroic Spirit of the Bow. Excellent scouts that excel in possessing powerful Noble Phantasms. Masters of long ranged warfare._

 _Lancer: Knight of the Lance and Heroic Spirit of the Lance. Gifted with extreme agility and proficient in hit-and-run tactics as well as ranged melee weapons such as spears and lances._

 _Rider: Mounted Knight and Heroic Spirit of the Mount. Experts of the mount able to tame any beast, be it mythical or mechanical._

 _Caster: Magus and Heroic Spirit of Spells and Sorcery. Adept in magecraft, being one of the few able to use sorceries of the highest caliber._

 _Assassin: Silent Killer and Heroic Spirit of Assassinations. Extremely skilled at covert, stealthy, and silent operations._

 _Berserker: Mad Warrior and Heroic Spirit of Berserker Rage. Crazed warriors that have lost almost all traces of their sanity in exchange for great power._

 _These are the seven classes of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. During the 5th, Sasasaki Kojiro or at least someone who was similar to him. Was summoned as a Fake Assassin._

 **A: Thanks ENDDRAGON369! I'll be sure to incorporate some of these classes/skills. But as you know, SAO is magic-free so some of it will not be incorporated into my story.**

 **The Rupture:** _The last is really not needed. You just went and increased their fame in the real world you also revealed their identity._

 **A: Honestly, I just wanted to start a friendship with Suguha and Aiko and also wanted to show their fame within SAO without telling you that directly/using a different perspective. Now, to the point of revealing their identity. I guess it was my bad. But I'm the author so I'll find some way to either make them forget or not tell anyone. Also, since their identities were only revealed to the four relevant families (Yuuki's family, Kirito's family, Asuna'a family and Hiyoto's sister), their fame in the real world hasn't been spread too much. But I accept your honest criticism and thank you for it.**

 **RedBurningDragon:** _Assassin from Fate/Stay Night. well that fight happened. so i think some on .hack's twin blade skills can be good for duel daggers. also look up Kuzuryūsen_

 **A: Oh, I see. Yeah, I may have used Asuna's fight with Yuuki in SAO Mother's Rosario arc and put it here. I'll look up Kuzuryūsen and hack's twin blade skills. Perhaps I'll add it to Hiyoto's kit.**

 **jorrdy12:** _oh, nvm, Yuuki gave something else than i thought to Agil, awesome chapter, keep up the good work!_

 **A: Huh ok. Thanks anyway jorrdy12! I'll try my best to keep up my good work. Hope you enjoy today's chapter!**

 **That's all the reviews I got for last chapter :)**

* * *

 **Kirito: Herosassin, you're forgetting something.**

 **Herosassin: You can't make me say it. You have no leverage.**

 ***Kirito draws his sword***

 **Herosassin: Dummy! I am the writer remember? You can't threaten me with your sword.**

 ***Kirito's sword immediately melts, leaving Kirito with a puddle of molten metal***

 **Kirito: Hmph. I can still introduce my daughter to the readers.**

 **Herosassin: Why does everyone threaten to reveal her to the readers?! Ugh, fine.**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER:** **Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Kawahara. All characters and most of my plot do not belong to me. I only own Hiyoto, a few plot points and a few made up bosses.**

* * *

 **~Floor 56, Main Settlement Elygard, 8:00am Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

I walked with Kirito through the teleport gates, arriving at the main plaza of Elygard, ready to start another day of mapping and clearing. _"Oh, what fun."_ I thought as I moved with Kirito through the sandstone paved roads, which were shadowed by huge, stone aqueducts, a nice decoration touch by Kayaba. I was quite thankful that no players were crowding to meet us. After a few days, the whole 'Sword Saint' and 'Black Swordsman' fame died down, to Kirito's and my relief. We were still revered for our skill, but no one really pestered us about it. Our duel with Asuna helped get us back into clearing the game and created a new reason for others to pester us. A reason that Kirito and I didn't mind since it was a good reason.

To put it simply, we became the conduit for powerful solo players and not well-known guilds to join clearing raids. We would vouch for any solo players we feel were powerful enough to take on bosses, making sure they were at least ten levels above the current floor. Not only that, we made sure that they always partied with us so that we could protect and help them. For the past four floors, there were no solo player casualties in boss raids. Other than that, Kirito and I soloed the front lines together, occasionally doing amends for our friends such as Hiyoto.

"Hey Yuuki, I was wondering if-" Kirito was cut off by the sudden appearance of a figure, marked with gashes and wounds. The figure stumbled out of the teleport gate, staggering around as he grabbed the clothes of the nearest players he could find and fell on his knees, seemingly begging them to do something. Players started to avidly move away from the immediate vicinity, muttering things such as "he's insane" and "this guy is probably working for orange guilds". The players that he did manage to talk to simply walked away, ignored him or politely declined him. These actions only caused the figure who I now could see was a young man to act even more desperately and eratically. I could see tears streaming down his face as he desperately grabbed the shirt of another passing player, pleading for the player to listen to him.

"Please, listen to me. My guild, made up of my friends in real life…they were robbed by an orange guild called Titan's Hand. After that they…" the man sobbed, unable to continue his plea and tale. The player gathered himself together before continuing. "When they robbed us, they…they killed all of them. Except for me." The player was silent once more, choking on his tears. A pang of pain and sympathy hit my heart as I listened to the poor player's tale of sorrow.

"How did they do it?" a gruff voice asked. The tone of the voice gave away the true feelings of the player listening to him. Feelings of amusement and simply not caring.

"They sent an infiltrator to infiltrate our guild, to assess all of our resources before setting an ambush. They demanded to get all of our possessions but when we refused they attacked. I still remember their leader, the red-haired woman, _Rosalia_ saying 'if you're not gonna give us your items, we'll pry them from your cold, dead hands'. Please, can you help avenge my guild?"

The player whom he was talking to, screwed his face in disgust, muttering something along the lines of "I'm not a red player. I won't murder anyone."

"No, no, I didn't mean to kill them. I just want you to send them back to prison." The player hastily explained, but he was too late, the player he was talking to already stepped away and continued what he was doing before.

Something softly bumped into my left shoulder. I looked towards the offending object to find Kirito looking at me with a curious expression.

"You're going to help him right?"

It wasn't an accusation nor was it judgemental. I stared at him, before smiling.

"No, _we're_ going to help him." I said, putting an extra emphasis on "we're". Kirito simply nodded and smiled before we walked together towards the poor player.

"Hey, what's your name?" Kirito softly asked. The player looked up from his despair.

"Argus."

"Ok Argus. I'm Kirito and this is Yuuki." Kirito introduced, pointing towards me. I waved my hand and smiled at him. "I've personally experienced what you have, and you have my deepest sympathies. We both want to help you bring these guys to justice." Kirito continued, trying to console Argus.

"T-take this then." Argus said, sending us a trade request. A message popped in front of us.

* * *

[Player] Argus wishes to trade with you.

He is offering:

1x [Item] Large Teleport Crystal*

 _*Location pre-set to Black Iron Palace Prison_

For:

Nothing

Do you accept?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

"I've spent my remaining guild funds to buy this. To av-avenge them. Please bring that orange guild to justice. I'm sorry if I can't offer you anymore." Argus said.

"There's no need to offer us anything else. We'll do it because it is the right thing to do. And when we do, we'll contact you so that you can visit them yourself." I said soothingly.

"Do you know where Titan's Hand was last seen?" Kirito asked.

"Floor 35, where I was attacked."

"Now if you don't mind, we have some very naughty players to catch." With that, Kirito and I said our farewells with Argus before heading towards the teleport gate.

"So, I guess we start searching for that despicable orange guild?" I asked.

"Yeah, starting with Floor 35. Perhaps we'll get lucky?" Kirito answered, smirking at his last comment.

"When was luck on our side?" I said jokingly, stepping through the teleport gate.

 **~Floor 35, Forest of Wandering, Unknown Time~**

 **Third Person Silica's POV**

"What are you talking about? Why should we have to share these healing crystals with you? Your pet lizard has healing powers, you know." Silica frowned as the red-haired woman questioned her. She was in a grinding party with a few players. And she was definitely not enjoying it. All the red-haired woman did was stand on the sidelines, pretending to fight. She seemed more focused on asking about their items and abilities. And now she- Rosalia was patronising her?

"First of all, Pina has an ability cooldown of 20 minutes before she can heal me again. Also, you never fight on the front line. In fact, you haven't fought at all! So, who are you to talk? You don't need to use any crystals!" Silica snapped.

"Ooh burned." a player commented, watching the developing argument with interest.

"Of course I do. You're the popular one around here, Silica. I can't expect the boys to help me when I need it." Rosalia responded, casually twirling her blood-red hair with one hand and holding her halberd upright with the other.

"Oh, come on. It's not like that." Another player interjected, clearly trying to settle the argument.

"You know what? Fine! I don't care. You want my items, take 'em. But I'm never going to team up with you again! I know, there is a ton of other parties out there who'd love to have me on their side." Silica ranted, before storming off angrily towards another part of the forest, intent on leaving.

"Wait! Don't go! Silica..." One of the other player shouted after her, but to no avail.

 **~.:.~**

A drunken ape swung its club at Silica, narrowly missing her head. Glancing at her health bar, she noticed that she was dangerously close to the red zone. Reaching for her pocket to grab one of her healing crystals, she cursed. "Dammit, I'm out of healing crystals!" Sidestepping, Silica dodged yet another blow from the drunken ape. Suddenly a blue dragon flew around her, cawing affectionately.

"Pina!" it squeaked, before opening its mouth and blasting Silica with a burst of water. The water surrounded Silica before dissipating, sending her health rocketing back up to the green zone.

"Thanks Pina!" Silica said, glad that her trusted pet, no friend, had helped her. Gripping her dagger tightly, Silica prepared to fight the drunken ape. The drunken ape swung once more, missing the agile and small dragon tamer. The dragon tamer then ran up the ape's club, delivering a shockingly brutal combo of slashes at the ape's face, killing it. As the ape dissolved into pixels, Silica fell, since there was no longer any solid matter as far as the game was concerned, to hold her up. Landing on the ground, Silica looked up only to see a horde of drunken apes waiting to kill her. Silica froze in shock as the nearest drunken ape swung its large wooden club at her. The club caught her square in the chest, sending her flying back until she hit a tree. Silica hissed in pain as she saw her health bar drop to the yellow zone. One more hit and she would die.

" _I guess this is it. My arrogance has gotten me killed. I thought I could make it out of the forest by myself but I was sadly mistaken."_ Silica saw her life flash before her as she struggled to move out of the way of the incoming club. But even she knew it was useless. There was no way she would be able to escape death.

"Piiinaa!" a voice chirped. Her blue dragon, her beloved Pina zoomed into her vision, heading head first towards the club. The club caught Pina and swept it towards one side. The monster paused, as if thinking what to do next as it hit an unforeseen target. Silica took this moment to run over to her pet dragon who was croaking weakly on the ground.

"No Pina. Pina stay with me. Why did you take that for me? Pina! Don't leave me alone!" Silica sobbed as Pina's body glowed golden, getting brighter every second until it exploded, disappearing in a shower of golden dust. In its place, a translucent white feather. "NO!" Silica screamed. Silica looked back, whimpering as she saw the horde of drunken apes behind her. The nearest drunken ape raised its club, ready to end her life there and then. It started its decent.

 **Kirito's POV**

We had been walking around the Forest of Wandering for about half an hour, searching for any nearby parties which could give us a lead on where Rosalia and her merry band of thieves were. So far there were no signs of them anywhere.

"Kirito, why exactly are we wandering around a forest for no apparent reason?" Yuuki asked, as we walked side by side, destroying any monsters daring to come close.

"I told you before. Titan's Hand is probably still on this floor, looking for new prey. The sooner we can find them, the more people we can save." I said exasperatedly.

A sudden scream of pain and sorrow burst through the forest.

"What was that?" I asked, looking around.

"Well, it came from over there! Let's go!" Yuuki responded, running towards the source of the scream. I followed her, sword drawn out just in case. We soon reached a small clearing in this gloomy forest, where a small young girl was surrounded by drunken apes. Holding my sword behind my head, I ran towards the girl, slashing at every monster in my path. Due to how powerful Yuuki and I were, we one-shot the monsters with ease. While I was running head long at the girl, Yuuki was dealing with the rest of the horde, dancing and weaving through the monsters' attacks before striking gracefully at them, causing them to erupt into a bunch of pixels.

The small girl, simply looked at me in shock as the monsters that were about to kill her dissipated.

"Are you alright?" I asked, walking towards her while sheathing my blade.

"Th-Th-Thank you." The girl stammered, before returning her gaze towards a translucent, pure-white feather that sat on the grass.

"Did we make it? Is the girl ok?" I heard Yuuki say as she sheathed her own sword. "Are you ok? The girl said nothing but continued on her gaze towards the feather.

"What's that feather?" I asked, pointing towards it.

The girl adopted a sorrowful expression.

"It's Pina... My best friend..."

"You're one of those beast tamers, aren't you? I'm sorry. If we'd got here sooner, we could've saved your friend." I said, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"No, it's all my fault. I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own. Thank you for saving me. You did what you could." The girl whispered.

"That feather. Check and see if it has an item name attached to it." Yuuki advised, moving closer to the girl to comfort her. The sobbing girl softly palmed the feather in her hands before tapping it, revealing a small pop-up.

"P-Pina's heart? Huh?"

"Hey, don't cry. That means Pina's heart's still here, there's a chance you can revive it." Yuuki said, patting her on the back. Suddenly the girl shot up, as if hearing these words suddenly gave her new hope.

"No way! Really?" the girl asked excitedly.

"Mmhmm. On the south side of Floor 47, there's a field dungeon called the Hill of Memories. I heard somewhere that the flower growing at the top can revive familiars." I confirmed, smiling at the joy twinkling in her eyes.

"Floor 47, huh." The girl said with a sadder tone.

"I'd offer to go get it for you. All you'd have to do is pay for the trip. The thing is, the flower won't bloom unless the familiar's master's there." I said.

"Thank you so much for telling me about it. If I work hard to raise my level, then someday I could..." the girl started.

"Sure but the time limit's three days to revive it." I interrupted, not wanting the girl to have false hope.

"Kirito! Don't be such a bearer of bad news!" Yuuki chided, punching me playfully on the arm.

"No way... It's all my fault. I'm so sorry, Pina..." the girl sobbed again, hugging the feather close to her chest.

"It's okay. You have three days. Take this equipment. It should boost you five or six levels. And if we tag along, I'm sure everything will work out." Yuuki said cheerily, opening her menu and selecting some items. Yuuki looked at me with a sinister stare. I stared back until I finally realised what she wanted from me. Immediately breaking eye contact, I started to select all the weapons and accessories, I no longer needed before sending the girl a trade request using the local trade function.

Two long trade requests suddenly appeared in front of the girl, surprising her.

"But, why would you do all this for me?" the girl asked curiously, smiling at us.

"Because, it's the right thing to do, we try to help as many people as we can in here." Yuuki explained, smiling at the girl encouragingly.

"Yeah, what she said but also because…" I stopped.

"Because of what?" the girl asked.

"I'll tell you, but only if you promise not to laugh, okay?"

"I promise I won't."

"All right, it's because you look like my little sister."

Yuuki and the girl chuckled.

"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't laugh." I pouted.

"Well, you never said that to me." Yuuki countered.

"Hehehe... I'm sorry. Um, I know this isn't enough col to pay you back, but..."

"No, it's cool." I said, reassuring the girl.

"Besides, it works with why we're here. We'll be helping each other out." Yuuki finished.

"Huh? Okay then, my name's Silica." The girl introduced, smiling at us.

"My name's Kirito and the girl next to me who breaks promises is Yuuki."

"Hey! I didn't break any promises!"

"Anyway, Silica, I guess we'll be working together for a little while."

Finishing that statement, the three of us walked back to the nearest settlement, ready to ascend to Floor 47.

 **~Floor 35, Main Settlement Oberion, 5:00pm Game Time~**

"Hey look! It's Silica!" A voice rang out from the town streets. Two players who looked like horrible cross-dressers approached us, specifically running towards Silica.

"It took you long time to get back. We were getting worried." the two cross-dressers surrounded Silica, talking to her in an almost revered manner.

"Um…"

"You wanna team up with us? We'll take you wherever you want to go!" the players continued, getting a bit closer than needed to Silica.

"That's really nice of you to offer, but... Well, I've sort of already agreed to be in a party with them, so... 'Kay, later. Bye!" Silica quickly sped through the last two sentences before hurriedly walking away with Yuuki and I. The two players death-glared at us while we walked away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that." Silica apologised.

"Didn't know you had fans. You must be popular." Yuuki commented as we walked through the streets of Oberion.

"No... They don't take me seriously. They want me to be their mascot. Maybe they're right. They call me Dragon Tamer, and I guess... It went to my head." Silica explained with a sort of embarrassed tone which was mixed with a touch of sadness.

"Don't worry about it. We'll make it in time. Promise." I said, consoling Silica.

"Okay. Do you two live around here?" Silica asked.

"Nah. We both live on Floor 50 in the same house. But it's a bit far from here so Yuuki and I were thinking of getting a room at the local inn tonight." I answered casually.

"Are you guys a couple?" Silica asked innocently.

"I.. NO! I-wha…-Why would you…is it obvious…No!" Yuuki and I spluttered. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment while I saw Yuuki's face go all rose-red. Silica laughed at our reactions.

"I just thought you two might be since you live in the same house and you guys seem pretty close." Silica explained, still trying to hold back some laughs.

"We're really good friends. Like best friends." Yuuki said, managing to recover from the previous statement.

"If you stay, I'll take you out for some cheesecake. It's really good here." Silica said, trying to guide us from that embarrassing yet amusing moment.

"We'd like that." I responded.

Suddenly, a red-haired woman with a pretty basic halberd approached us. She was twirling her red hair mindlessly while walking towards us, in a fashion I would call…being pompous and certainly arrogant.

"Well, if it isn't Silica! Wow. You made it out of the forest alive. Good for you, girl." The red-haired person said mockingly. Silica gritted her teeth.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh no, nothing." Silica responded through her gritted teeth.

"Hang on. What happened to your little friend the lizard. Did he run away?" the red-haired woman asked rather cruelly.

"Pina died saving me. But, I'm gonna get Pina back!" Silica exclaimed indignantly.

"Really? I guess you'll be heading for the Hill of Memories then. I wonder if you'll be able to clear it at your level."

" _Wow, this woman sure loves to mock people"_ I thought as I observed the bitter conservation between Silica and the red-haired woman. Yuuki suddenly stepped forward confronting the red-haired woman.

"Of course, she will. It's not that difficult to level." Yuuki said cheerily, putting her arm on Silica's shoulder. The red-haired woman looked at both of us before saying,

"Oh god, this girl seduced another player. You sure are a seductress Silica. No, it's not difficult, but you don't look that strong."

"Stop it with your condescending tone. Seriously! Anyway, we gotta go. Come on." I said, heading towards the inn. The red-haired woman simply snorted before heading off into her own direction.

After getting a table at the inn, Silica, Yuuki and I ordered some cheesecake before talking once more, waiting for our order to arrive.

"Why would she have to be so mean?"

"Well, is Sword Art Online your first MMO?" I asked.

"Uh-huh." Silica nodded.

"A lot of people's personalities change when they play games online. And some actually like playing the game as the bad guy. You see how our cursors are green. Well, if you commit a crime against another player, your cursor's gonna turn orange. Then they become what's called a 'red player' - the worst, also known as player killers. They're all about murder." Yuuki explained. When she talked about red players, she scowled.

"They kill other players?!" Silica exclaimed, shocked that anyone would do such thing.

"In a normal game, they role-play as the bad guy, have some laughs - and it's cool. But Sword Art Online isn't normal. It's definitely not a game. And killing anyone is no joke." I said darkly, as it reminded me of the pkers Yuuki and I faced, along with the death of my own guild.

"Kirito…" Yuuki placed a hand on my shoulder before giving me a reassuring smile.

"I'm sorry, it's just that Yuuki and I have met in person, with some of these players." I said.

"Well, I think you're good, so... I mean, you saved me after all." Silica said happily, trying to reassure me in her own way.

"Thanks Silica. It looks like you cheered me up instead." I said thankfully before smiling at Silica. For some reason, Silica's face suddenly grew red while Yuuki gave me an angry scowl, glaring swords at me. Pointy sharp swords. _"What did I do? Why is Silica's face so red and why is Yuuki angry with me?"_ I wondered as I watched Silica repeatedly shouting at the waiters.

"Well, where the heck is our cheesecake already? Excuse me, our dessert hasn't shown up yet!"

I simply chuckled at her antics while trying to avoid eye contact with Yuuki's terrifying glare.

 **~.:.~**

After the meal, Yuuki seemed to have calmed down quite a bit and Silica's face now returned to normal colours.

"Wow, Silica you're right. The cheesecake here is pretty good." Yuuki said as we headed towards the accommodation part of the inn.

"So are you guys in separate rooms or what?" Silica asked.

"Well…Kirito and I were planning to share for the night. Neither of us mind it after all." Yuuki said nonchalantly like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"See! More proof that you guys should be/are a couple!" Silica exclaimed while Yuuki's face started to blush deep red.

"Are you sure you're not a cupid match-maker?" I asked, laughing but at the same time slightly embarrassed.

"Silica, we're not a couple. We're just really good friends!" Yuuki said in a flustered fashion before heading towards our room.

"You know its true!" Silica said in a sing-song-like way before entering her own room.

Yuuki sat down on the bed, taking deep breaths to calm down before discussing with me, today's events.

"So, do you think that the red-haired woman is Rosalia?" I said, sitting beside Yuuki.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. She matches the description Argus gave us." Yuuki agreed.

"She's so damn condescending though. Like she's above everyone else." I said, adding in my own opinions of Rosalia.

"I think she's going to go after us after the encounter with Silica. After all, the item that can revive creatures is a rare one." Yuuki reasoned.

"Well, if that's the case, we'll be able to knock out two birds with one stone." I said before standing back up and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go to Silica's room and just talk her through a few last minutes things. You coming?"

Yuuki shook her head. "I want to sleep. I mean, we'll need rest if we're going to catch some despicable criminals."

"Ok, suit yourself then." With that, I exited our room and knocked on Silica's door.

"Silica, you still awake?" I asked.

"K-Kirito?" came the response.

"I forgot to tell you some stuff about Floor 47. But it can wait till tomorrow." I said, turning back towards my room.

"No, now's fine! Actually, I was just thinking I should ask you about..." Silica started before falling silent. A sudden squeal took place. Next on the soundboard queue was the sound of a menu opening, followed by three rapid selections (they make a ding sound) before a soft hum, indicating that either equipment or items were being equipped. I assume clothing as a sound similar to clothing brushing against table sounded before Silica's door opened. Silica's flustered face greeted me while she herself was smoothing out her dress.

"Uh, what's up? Something wrong?" I asked, slightly confused about her appearance. Silica gestured for me to walk in. I walked towards the small, round wooden table and placed a metallic sphere on its surface.

"No, nothing. What's that thing do, Kirito?" Silica asked, pointing towards the sphere.

"That's a Mirage Sphere." I said, before pressing the purple button on top of the sphere. As soon as I pressed the button, the sphere split itself in half horizontally, with the top half levitating upwards until it was nearly touching the ceiling of the room. A light blue light softly flickered to life, like a hologram before it stabilised. A spherical net consisting of soft aqua lines formed from the distance between the two halves of the sphere, streaming from the edges of the halves before spawning in a map of Floor 47 inside.

"It's pretty." Silica gasped, her eyes transfixed to the sphere.

"This is the town area of Floor 47. And that's the Hill of Memories. I was thinking if we take this route, we can... Hm?" I stopped, straining to hear something.

"What's wrong?" Silica asked cautiously.

 **Yuuki's POV**

As Kirito left our room, I thought about today's events. _"Silica is a nice girl. But why is she so insistent that Kirito and I are a couple? Does he even see me that way? Could we work as a couple?"_ A blush crept up my cheeks as I thought about Kirito and I being a couple. _"I probably should check on Kirito and Silica. I have no idea what they're doing in there."_ With that, I got off my bed and headed towards the door. Opening my door, I saw an orange-clad player crouched behind Silica's door, his ears planted on the door.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I said, approaching the player. The player immediately got up, an alarmed expression on his face before he sprinted down the corridor. A split second later, Silica's door snapped open, with Kirito looking at the fleeing figure before staring at me.

"Yuuki, it wasn't you who was eavesdropping on us right?" Kirito asked.

"No, it was another player who you saw sprinting down the corridor."

"Ok, you mind coming in? We were just finishing up."

I followed Kirito into Silica's room.

"Um, who was it?" Silica asked as she saw Kirito and I walk in.

"An eavesdropper." I said, looking behind me.

"But they can't. I mean, you can't hear through a door unless you knock first." Silica said.

"But if your listening skill is high enough, you can. It takes practice. Not that many players have it." I elaborated, standing beside Kirito.

"Why would they want to listen to us?" Silica questioned.

"I don't know. I don't know."

 **~Floor 47, Flower Garden~**

"Wow! This place is like a dream!" Silica exclaimed as she went over to sniff the flowers. Kirito chuckled.

"I know. The whole floor is covered in flowers. That's why they call it the Flower Garden."

I looked over at the gardens, taking in the sheer beauty of the flowers. I can tell that lots of time was put into making each and every flower look life-like, beautiful and full of colour. Suddenly, I felt a small stick of some kind infiltrate my hair. Turning around, I found Kirito sticking a flower into my hair, next to my ear.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I just thought that _that_ flower would look good in your hair." Kirito answered, pointing to the single yellow flower situated near my ear.

"Thanks Kirito."

Grinning, I looked away, seeing Silica's face was red in colour once more.

"Silica?" I looked at her with a curious look.

"What?! Nothing! Sorry to keep you waiting."

"What? What's wrong?" Kirito asked.

"Uh, nothing, nothing at all."

"Ok?" I said slowly. "Let's get a move on then."

"Oh yeah. Take this." Kirito said, handing Silica a teleport crystal. "If anything bad happens while we're in here, I'm gonna tell you to warp out, okay? When I do, use this crystal. You can jump to any town with it." Kirito said seriously.

"But…" Silica started.

"No 'buts,' use it." Kirito said firmly.

"Great, now let's get going. If we take this path right here," Kirito said, pointing to the long, windy brick pathway leading towards a distant hill, "it should lead us to the Hill of Memories." The black-haired boy finished, pointing towards the distant hill which was surrounded with floating islands.

 **~.:.~**

The monsters on this floor honestly weren't that bad. Just a bunch of rogue bees who look like they took steroids and the occasional giant Venus Flytrap. Honestly even the monsters didn't ruin the attitude Kirito and I adopted; one of strolling through a beautiful flower garden and enjoying the sights.

"Um, Kirito..." Silica started before she was grabbed by two thick vines, hoisting her up into the air legs first. A monster that looked like the piranha plants from Mario had spawned, with a collar of green leaves jutting out from its neck like a lion's mane. Silica was literally screaming her head off, struggling to escape the grips of the plant which was hoisting her upside down while pulling the hems of her dress towards her to cover herself from prying eyes.

"Calm down Silica, that monster isn't that strong!" I said, unsheathing my sword, ready to help her.

"Oh, Kirito, Yuuki, save me! But don't look! Save me! But don't look!" the girl in distress desperately cried, still struggling against the somewhat perverted plant monster.

"That'll be... difficult." Kirito said, putting his hand in front of his eyes but leaving a small gap to peek through.

"She said don't look you lolicon pervert!" I snarled at Kirito lividly. Kicking him square on the chest, I watched as Kirito was sent sprawling across the pathway for a few metres. I was about to rush in to help Silica when Silica suddenly drew her dagger.

"Darn you! Put me down... now!" Silica exclaimed, slashing at the two vines holding her up. The vines immediately severed, untangling themselves from Silica's heels before falling onto the ground, thrashing around. They soon disintegrated into mere particles while Silica dived head first at the head of the plant monster, her dagger glowing neon blue. The dagger plunged straight into the head of the monster, killing it. Silica flipped through the air and landed crouching down on the ground before standing up and straightening her dress.

"Did you see anything?" Silica asked, a little bit flustered from her encounter with the plant monster. I shook my head.

"Where's Kirito?" Silica asked, looking around in confusion.

"I'm here." A voice rang out from the distance. I turned around to find Kirito walking back to where he was, massaging his chest with one of his hands. "Seriously Yuuki, what gives?"

Silica looked at me curiously, her head cocked slightly to one side.

"Don't mind Mr Lolicon over there, he was peeking through his hand and so I decided to send him away." I explained before glaring at Kirito. "What do you mean what gives? You peeked through your hands even though she said _not_ to look!"

"I only peeked to make sure she was ok. I swear, I had no malicious intent whatsoever." Kirito defended.

"Look into my eyes and say that again." I demanded, crossing my arms.

"Ouch, I'm insulted. You don't believe me?" Kirito pretended to wipe a imaginary tear from his eye. He then adopted a hurt expression, with the exception of his eyes which were twinkling in mischief.

"Do it. If you have nothing to hide, you'll do it."

"Fine." Kirito stepped in front of me before peering into my eyes.

"I swear, I had no malicious intent whatsoever when I peeked." Kirito said in a completely serious manner, never breaking eye contact with my eyes. I stared into his eyes, noting how they were slightly grey, serious and focused.

"Fine, I believe you." I conceded before stepping back and breaking eye contact.

"Well, now that this issue's been sorted, I think we should continue." Kirito said before gesturing for us to continue on the path. We walked in complete silence for a few minutes.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but... What's your sister like?" Silica's voice shattered the silence.

"Why do you wanna know?" Kirito's response wasn't harsh nor was it guarded. Rather, it was with a tone one might use if something had piqued their interest.

Silica elaborated on the reason she asked. "Well, you said I looked like her. I know it's not polite to ask about your real life, but... What's she like?"

"I called her my little sister, but she's really my cousin."

"Huh?"

"We were raised like brother and sister since we were babies, so I doubt she even knows. But I know. And I guess that's the reason I avoided her. Our grandfather is really strict. When I was eight, he made us take classes at a local kendo dojo. But after a couple years, I stopped going. Grandpa beat the hell out of me for that."

"Wow, that's awful." I said, my voice full of sympathy.

"Anyway, then my sister stood up for me and told him to stop. She said she'd train hard for both of us. And she did. She trained hard. She even made it to the nationals." Kirito continued as we were walking.

"She did? That's so cool!" Silica said with admiration.

"Yeah... I've always felt guilty for putting her through that. I wouldn't doubt it if she hates me. God knows she could've been doing something else. Maybe that's why I wanted to help you. In a weird way, it makes me feel like I'm paying her back. There it is." Kirito concluded.

"If you don't mind me saying, you're wrong. I don't think she hates you at all. After all, she was willing to do kendo for you as well." Silica said, trying to cheer Kirito up.

"Silica's right. She wouldn't work that hard for you if she didn't like you. And I bet she even loves kendo." I added, patting Kirito on the back.

"There you guys go again, making me feel better. Maybe you're right. Man, I hope so." Kirito said with a smile. Suddenly he ruffled my hair with his hand while doing the same to Silica with the other.

"Kirito! Stop it." I complained, stepping out of Kirito's range and trying to fix my hair.

"Owie…Kirito!" Silica whined before copying me.

"What about you Yuuki? Do you have any siblings?" I heard Kirito ask.

"Yeah, one. A sister…twin sister." I answered slowly.

"You're a twin? That's awesome!" Kirito said, astonished by my answer.

"I always wanted a twin! Who's older?" Silica piped cheerfully.

"I guess. On the most technical level, my twin sister is older than me by two minutes. It also suits her personality in my opinion. She's smart, analytical and I guess more mature while I am the polar opposite. In a sense, she acts like my big sister, not that I'm complaining."

"Are you identical twins?" Silica asked.

"Yeah, we are. In fact, we used to play pranks on our friends and teachers at school. We would swap our identities, and no one would notice. The only way they could tell is if they told me to play a game of chess with them or by observing how I act and react to different things." I laughed as I reminisced about past pranks.

"That's so cool Yuuki. Thanks for sharing that with us." Kirito said gleefully. Soon, Kirito held out his arm to stop us. We had reached a small clearing where a small stone altar sat in the middle.

"Is that reviving flower around here?" Silica asked.

"Yeah, it's over there!" I said, pointing towards a small delicate flower that had just bloomed on a stone altar. The flower itself was translucent with a hint of white. "Go ahead, pick it up!" I encouraged, watching as Silica ran towards the flower. When she reached the altar, Silica gently plucked the flower from its resting spot causing a dialog box to appear in front of her.

* * *

Congratulations! You have obtained the Pneuma Flower!

* * *

"You sure it'll bring Pina back to life?" Silica asked cautiously, clutching the flower.

"Uh-huh." Kirito and I both said simultaneously. Silica simply giggled before focusing all her attention on the flower.

"There is a bunch of strong monsters lurking around here. Let's revive it when we get back to town. I'm sure Pina would want it that way." Kirito advised, looking around to see if monsters had spawned as he talked. I nodded in agreement and walked towards Silica who followed soon snapped out of her 'staring-at-the-Pneuma-Flower' trance.

 **Kirito's POV**

The journey back from the Hill of Memories was quite uneventful with little to no monsters ambushing us. We almost made it back to the teleport gate; we only needed to cross a stone bridge across a lake when I saw someone hiding behind a bunch of trees. I stopped abruptly surprising Yuuki who walked straight into me. Yuuki let out an "oof" sound while Silica kepkt walking until she was a half a meter ahead of me.

"Is something wrong Kirito?" she asked, confused with my sudden stop.

"Look at that tree! There's a rare monster that's spawned over there. Seems to be a dryad of sorts since its quite humanoid." I said in a sarcastic manner pointing towards a specific tree. Yuuki looked at me as if I was mad before staring at the tree I was pointing to. Her eyes widened as she finally understood what I was hinting at. Silica on the other hand did not, but walked back towards me anyway.

"Yes, it must be dangerous. Wielding a halberd, you have to watch out for its devastating attacks. I think the monster's name is Rosalia and their hiding skill considered quite pathetic. Not to mention, her minions who are hiding in the other surrounding trees are as stealthy as a bumbling bear." I continued, keeping the sarcastic tone Kirito had started with. Quite anti-climatically, nothing happened. No figures popping up, no "you got me" from the hiding figures.

"Ok, enough with the pretending. We know you're hiding behind those trees and if you want to ambush us, you've gotta do much better than that!" I said nonchalantly. A red-haired figure stepped out from behind a tree, casually twirling her red hair while gripping a halberd in another hand.

"Rosalia?" Silica said, confused on why on earth; well Aincrad I guess since we're actually in Aincrad not Earth, Rosalia would be here.

"If you saw through my hiding skill so easy, your detection skill must be really high, swordsman. And swordswoman." Rosalia said mockingly. Rosalia then looked at the flower in Silica's hands. "Ooh, it looks like you were successful getting your hands on the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations. Now, hand it over before you get hurt." Rosalia said the last sentence menacingly, clearly trying to intimidate us.

"What are you talking about?" Silica questioned, not understanding why she would need to give her flower to Rosalia.

"No one's handing anything over, Rosalia. Not to you, or the orange guild. Or should I say Titan's Hand? You're their leader, right?" Yuuki said accusingly, death glaring Rosalia. I probably should mention something about Yuuki's death glares. They literally pierce your soul and send literal chills up your spine. They terrify literally everyone.

"Nice…" Rosalia said weakly, clearly intimidated by Yuuki's soul piercing glare.

"But Rosalia's cursor is green." Silica inputed.

"It's an easy trick. The green members find their victims, then they lure them straight to the orange players for the ambush. That was one of your pals last night eavesdropping on us, wasn't it?" I said, looking around to see if I could spot the orange-clothed eavesdropper.

"Then, the reason you were in that party with me and the others was to..." Silica started, finally realising who and what Rosalia was.

"How perceptive. I was observing their strength, watching them earn all that beautiful money." Rosalia licked her lips at the mention of money, as if money was the finest delicacy in the world. "You were who I was excited about and I was so sad when you left the party. But then you told me you were getting a rare item. What I want to know is, if you knew about us, why did you bring her here? Are you dumb? Or does she have you wrapped around her finger?" Rosalia regained her condescending tone, unknowingly mocking Yuuki and I with it (the tone).

"How impressive. Everything you said about us was wrong. Completely wrong. Care to try again?" Yuuki mocked, wagging her finger at Rosalia. "No? Ok, see, we've been looking all over for you, Rosalia."

"What are you talking about?" Rosalia said, taken aback by what Yuuki stated.

"Remember ten days ago, you attacked a guild called the Silver Flags? The leader survived, four didn't." Yuuki continued, walking forwards towards Rosalia.

"Oh, the losers with no money..."

"Their leader went back and forth, from the warp-point to the front lines, morning till night. And with tears in his eyes, he begged everyone he met to avenge his dead friends. But he didn't want you killed. No, he wanted you to go to prison. Do you have any idea how he felt?"

"Can't say I do. Only idiots take this seriously. So, what if we kill someone here? There's no proof, dying here means you're dead IRL. Anyway, it's time you started worrying about yourselves." Rosalia snapped her fingers and seven other players revealed themselves from their hiding spots behind trees. To an unprepared victim, the sight would certainly have been intimidating. However, Yuuki and I were not victims. Nor were we unprepared.

"Kirito, Yuuki, there's too many of them. We should get out of here." Silica said anxiously, tugging on Yuuki's and my sleeve.

"No, it's okay. You'll be safe if you stay here. Keep the crystal handy till I say so." I reassured Silica, looking her in the eye.

"Ok, but…Yuuki! Kirito!" Silica shouted our names as Yuuki and I both stepped forward.

"Do you want to confront them, or should I?" I asked Yuuki. Yuuki simply shrugged before saying, "You should, I'll be better at defending Silica if those bastards try to get her."

 **Third Person's POV**

"Kirito?" one of the bandits said in surprise.

"Yuuki?" another said in fear.

Kirito drew his sword, walking calmly towards them, his strikingly black attire giving him a mysterious aura. Yuuki on the other hand, gave a lopsided grin before drawing her own blade, walking backwards towards Silica.

"Dressed in black... One-handed... No-shield... Holy crap! It's the Black Swordsman! Rosalia, that guy...! He's the beater who plays solo with the Zekken on the front lines!" The first bandit said in awe and worry. "But that means…the girl with him is Zekken!"

"Let's see…purple hair…dressed in purple…pale, violet sword with no crossguard…red headband…We are screwed. That's Zekken the Sword Saint. She's the one with a custom unique skill that one-skilled the field boss of Floor 27." The second bandit stammered.

"Rosalia are you sure it's a good idea to fight them? They are two of the Big Three in the Clearer's Alliance. No only that, they are the fabled Duloers who fight by themselves on the front lines! They're both from the Assault Team!" Another bandit questioned.

"Wait what? You guys are the legendary Duloers?" Silica asked in pure awe.

"Enough! Why would someone in the Assault Team let alone the Big Three be all the way down here? Anyway, there's seven of you and one of him! And you're all evel 47. Go on! Take him out! And take everything he owns!" Rosalia ordered. The bandits gathered themselves before charging their skills. Their weapons started to glow with many colours found in the colour spectrum.

"Die!" They yelled as they charged at Kirito. Kirito simply smiled and let the rogue bandits hit him, causing large gashes and lines of red to appear on Kirito's body. If someone was to look carefully however, they would realise that these lines faded pretty quickly.

" _I've got to save him! He won't last!"_ Silica thought as she drew her dagger, ready to charge in to help Kirito. Suddenly, she felt a hand holding onto her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. She looked up to find Yuuki's hand on her shoulder, with Yuuki smiling at her. It was as if Yuuki knew what Silica had thought about.

"Look at his healthbar." Yuuki whispered, pointing to Kirito's visible health bar. Silica peered closely. Kirito's healthbar was falling quite slowly when…it suddenly jumped back to full health. _"What's going on?"_ Silica thought, completely confused about what was going on with Kirito's healthbar. Soon, the seven bandits attacking Kirito stopped, encircling Kirito, huffing and puffing and panting.

"What the hell, you idiots?! Kill him already!" Rosalia screeched, slamming the butt of her halberd onto the ground.

"Four hundred in ten seconds, give or take. That's about the total damage the seven of you can inflict on me. I'm level 78. I've got 14,500 HP. My battle-healing skill auto-regenerates six hundred points every ten seconds. We could stand here all day, and you wouldn't get anywhere." Kirito monologued, staring distastefully at the tired bandits around him.

"But…Th-That's n-not possible!" one of the bandits stuttered.

"Wanna bet?" Kirito spun around to face the bandit who declared his level impossible. "If your numbers are high enough, you're invincible. MMOs that use leveling systems are unfair that way." Kirito paused before dramatically revealing his level to the bandits. "Our client spent his entire fortune on this warp crystal, and he'll get his money's worth. It's been set to the coordinates of the prison. And we're sending all of you bastards there!" Kirito shouted, holding out a large, blue teleport crystal.

"Well, I'm green, and if you hurt me, you'll go orange and...!" Rosalia was silenced by Kirito who had dashed all the way to Rosalia, closing the distance between them within mere seconds. Kirito had his sword hovering very close to Rosalia's neck.

"Remember, Yuuki and I are solo players. We don't care if we turn orange for a day or two. Or even red." Kirito said sinisterly. _"I hope Yuuki didn't hear that. I know she would murder me; haha the irony, if I turned red. And she herself wouldn't go red herself either."_ Kirito thought as he stared down Rosalia. Rosalia simply whimpered before feebly letting go of her halberd, said weapon clattering on the ground.

Kirito stepped back before pulling out the teleport crystal once more.

"Teleport everyone who is in Titan's Hand to the pre-assigned location!" Kirito shouted authoritatively. The blue crystal shone with white light before shooting beams of snow white light towards everyone who was in Titan's Hand. As soon as the beams hit the players, they were enveloped with bright white light. Once all the members of Titan's Hand were ensnared with the white light, the crystal, along with its captives disappeared from existence, leaving no evidence regarding what had just happened.

"So Rosalia was a criminal?" Silica asked, trying to understand what had just happened.

"Yeah, she was. Let's go back to the inn first before we explain everything to you." Kirito said, sheathing his sword.

 **~.:.~**

"We're really sorry, Silica. This whole time, we were using you as bait to catch 'em. We thought you'd be scared if we told you the truth about us." Yuuki said apologetically, subconsciously rubbing the back of her head.

"I can never be scared of you two... 'cause you're good people. Um, do you really have to go?" Silica said, seemingly unaffected by the revelation that part of the reason they helped was to draw out Titan's Hand. But Silica knew inside that Yuuki and Kirito both genuinely wanted to help her because it was the right thing to do, not just to bait criminals.

"Yeah... We've been away from the front lines for five days. We need to get back." Yuuki responded, patting Silica on the head affectionately.

"So, you two are the Duloers?"

"Duloers? Who made that one up? I need to talk with my publicity officer about that." Kirito said, jokingly.

"Shut up, you don't have a publicity officer. Anyway, even if you did it would be _our_ publicity officer." Yuuki responded, slapping Kirito's arm playfully. "Anyway, I think Duloers is just duo and soloer merged together. Though I admit that's pretty stupid sounding. A better one would be the Duo, much cooler and menacing." Yuuki said admittingly before bursting into laughter. Soon Kirito and Silica joined her.

"I-I think it's cool here with the Assault Team. I could try for a hundred years and never make it. I-" Silica started before Kirito interrupted her.

"You know, levels are just numbers. And a person's strength in this world is just an illusion. Sure it's cool and all, but there are more important things than that. We should meet up in the real world. That would be cool 'cause I like having you as a friend."

"Okay, we will. I promise." Silica pledged, looking at Yuuki and Kirito.

"Since when were you so philosophical Kirito?" Yuuki teased. Kirito feigned hurt before responding with,

"I was always philosophical, thank you very much. I just never revealed it."

"Sure you were." came Yuuki's response.

"Well, are you ready to revive Pina?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah!" Silica said cheerfully, before going into her inventory to retrieve Pina's Heart and the Pneuma Flower. Holding the items, one in each hand, she looked at Kirito and Yuuki with a puzzled expression, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, a message invaded her vision.

* * *

A familiar's heart has been detected.

Do you wish to revive [Familiar] Pina with the Pneuma Flower?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

Tapping on 'yes' Silica watched as the two items hovered into the air, orbiting around an unseen centre point, slowly quickening. A bright light accompanied the process, giving it an almost divine appearance. The two items eventually collided to form a cocoon made of sky-blue light. The cocoon held its form for a few meagre seconds before cracking open, revealing a small, cute and sky-blue coloured dragon.

"Pina!" it chirped before flying into the waiting arms of Silica.

"Oh Pina! You're back! I have lots of things to tell you. About the big adventure I had. And how I got my very own big brother and sister for one day." Pina looked up from Silica's embraced and turned its gaze towards Yuuki and Kirito. It cawed appreciatively before roosting on Silica's head.

"Thank you so much Yuuki. And you too Kirito. Without you, Pina would've been gone for good." Silica thanked, before running towards Yuuki, hugging her. Yuuki hugged her back, an impish smile on her face.

"Well, we have to go Silica. Take care! We'll visit whenever we can!" Kirito said, turning towards the door while Yuuki simply pouted.

"Do we have to? It's so peaceful and quiet down here."

Kirito simply chuckled before ruffling Yuuki's hair.

"Hey! Stop doing that!" Yuuki complained, as Kirito stopped. Yuuki huffed before attempting to fix her hair. "I guess this is goodbye for now. See you Silica!" Yuuki farewelled before following Kirito out of the door.

Silica simply watched as Yuuki and Kirito joked around, walking in sync as they slowly disappeared from her view.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As I repeatedly say every time: Feel free to review and leave suggestions, comments or criticism. I appreciate every review as it encourages me and tells me on how to improve my story.**

 **I will officially say that I am on holidays. So you may or may not see more frequent updates. No guarantees though.**

 **Oh yeah, if you got the LJ reference I put in, good on you. I'm impressed.**

 **Well, I'll see you next week (or earlier) for another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you all!**

 **~Herosassin**


	9. Chapter 9: 'Murder'

**AN: Hi! I'm finally on time. (I know what a surprise!)**

 **So… here is the next chapter. I hope you guys have an enjoyable, relaxing Christmas and holidays (if applicable). Remember to stay safe and enjoy!**

 **Also, thank you so much for your support! I really, really appreciate it!**

 ** _(Edit 1)_ Do you like my new summary? I think its better but let me know. :)**

* * *

 **Now to respond to my dear reviewers:**

 **Arcticatskill:** _"Lol, I have basically reviewed every chapter, giving you 8 reviews, but you deserve it. Nice long chapter, though I pretty sure people wouldn't mind if you split longer chapters in half, so readers won't have to wait as long. I wondering if you would make Kirito more powerful. Well, obviously there is the double wielding skill, but it there going to be anything else? Also, when will Kirito X Yuuki actually happen, because of all the bits of fluff here and there. Hope you update soon! :)"_

 **A: Thanks Arcticatskill! I really appreciate the time you took to review my chapters. I'm glad you enjoyed my story so far. Splitting my chapters in half doesn't seem like a bad idea. Though for canon chapters it seems sort of bad to do that… Eh, I'd rather give you guys a whole chapter than give you a semi-decent half chapter. But that's just me. As for making Kirito more powerful, I haven't really decided yet. I might make him more masterful at using his skills but giving him more OP skills sort of breaks the story for me. And for the Kirito X Yuuki, its gonna be quite a few chapters before they become an official thing. But you'll get more and more fluff as they progress and deepen their relationship from best friends to something more.**

 **Guest:** _"Good."_

 **A: Thanks guest.**

 **W33d:** _"I really love your work that i was forced to create an account just to let you know how much i love your work :) There are a lot of reasons why I like your story. First of all, I think KiritoxYuuki is I think is the best ship on SAO (even though it did not happen on the novel/anime) because of their personalities. Since you know that Kirito can be an emo especially on the SAO arc I think it would be nice to pair him to someone with a positive vibe like Yuuki. I was curious on how it would turn out and I think you're doing great on portraying that. And since they're both strong which is very nice, double the badassness. I also love that you added RPG/MMORPG elements on your story which was clearly lacking in the original. Also the stories outside the game is neat, where the families where watching I hope they will see how Kirito and Yuuki would get together and their reactions would be great :D For my personal taste, it would be nice to have some sort of rival for Yuuki for Kirito since I think she would have some interesting reactions, that could also be the key for them to realize their true feelings but it's just a suggestion and I would wait for what you have in store. Lastly, I hope Kirito gets the dual-wield and saves Yuuki in some way, yeah that would be nice. Sorry for the long review, I hope you continue this story since there are people like me who enjoys it a lot. I hope you enjoy writing it too, goodluck! :D"_

 **A: Really? That's so cool. I'm glad I made you make an account just to let me know! I'm so thrilled that you like what I've written, especially with the non-canon chapters. With the rival idea, I'll take it into consideration. I already considered using Asuna as a rival but we'll see when the time comes. But I like your ideas! And yes, I do enjoy writing these chapters.**

 **RedBurningDragon:** _"Was that an abridged reference is Kirito going to always be right lol. Also new ep hype"_

 **A: Sort of. I have some abridged references in this chapter though you did get one of the unintentional reference. There was a specific reference to the Last Jedi (no the reference isn't a spoiler, also if you haven't watched it, you're missing out on something amazing.). Yeah, the new abridged episode was really good, too bad it got taken down for copyright.**

 **The Rupture:** _"Hurry up your next update bro."_

 **A: Yes sir! I'm on time this chapter and I'll strive to deliver mine either on schedule or earlier.**

 **That's all the reviews I got last chapter.**

* * *

 **Herosassin: I'm sick of saying the same disclaimer over and over again.**

 **Yuuki: You've only said it twice though.**

 **Herosassin: So?**

 **Yuuki: I'll say it for you. Only if you don't kill m- *Herosassin's hand suddenly clamps on Yuuki's mouth***

 **Herosassin: Shush! No spoiling.**

 **Yuuki: mmf mphd mm!**

 **Herosassin: I'll take my hand off if you don't spoil anything else.**

 **Yuuki furiously shakes her head.**

 **Herosassin: Fine, I'll say it again:**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters. Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Kawahara. I only own OCs and non-canon parts.**

* * *

 **~Floor 56, A Random Cave, 9:00am Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

I was walking towards the very inconspicuous-I'm sorry, I meant to say _very_ conspicuous cave that was set as the location for this floor's boss meeting. Alongside me was my best friend Kirito and two aspiring solo players. Their names were Itu and Ilda. Much like us, they soloed together. What was unlike us was the fact that they were siblings, with Ilda being the older sibling.

The blue-haired girl was kitted most unusually. Wielding a scythe and wearing black clothes with a shawl covering her head, she looked like the incarnation of Death. Yes, that's right, Death with a capital-D, or the Grim Reaper. She was slightly taller than me, and reminded me of Eldridiia with her weapon of choice. Despite her intimidating appearance, once we got to know her, she was actually quite nice and friendly. Her younger brother wielded a wickedly sharp Guandao, which pretty much was a staff with a blade attached to one end. Its green-haired wielder had mastered all aspects of it, turning it from a glorified spear into a bladed staff capable of bringing hordes of monsters down. He was slightly shorter than Kirito and generally wore a deep-ocean-blue cloak with leather gauntlets.

This was their second boss raid after last floor in which they did a superb job. Anyway, enough with the explanations.

Itu and Ilda were having a very animated conversation about whose weapon was better. Kirito and I watched the siblings in amusement, interested to see who would win this argument.

"Sis, my Guandao would shame your scythe. You can only slice and dice while I can slice, dice and jab." Itu said, imitating the actions as he said them.

"Just because you have more move sets doesn't mean that it's better. Remember, I beat you multiple times in duels, using said scythe." Ilda responded, casually twirling her scythe in her hand.

"You were just lucky. I totally would beat you with my Guandao!" Itu shot back.

"So, beating you twelve times in a row is luck? Then I must be the luckiest person alive." Itu simply pouted in response while Ilda and I laughed.

"Welp, it looks like we've reached the boss meeting." Kirito said, before checking in with the guard stationed near the entrance of the cave. The cave itself on the outside seemed dull, like a randomly placed rock in the desert. There was nothing of interest in the surrounding vicinity considering that the cave was in the middle of a desert.

"Hey Kirito, hey Yuuki." the guard greeted, raising his sword in greeting. "Who do you have with you this time?"

"Milkins, don't recognise them? This is Itu and Ilda" I responded, gesturing towards the respective figures when I said their names. "They were with us during the last boss raid."

"Ah, yes. I remember now. Go on ahead, the meeting is about to commence." Milkins informed us before stepping aside, letting us enter the cave. Inside, many people were gathered, talking to each other in their own respective groups, occasionally glancing at the middle of the cave where a large stone slab was situated. On top of the slab which acted like a table were maps, items and weapons, strewn across casually and in some cases, haphazardly. I looked around the cave and saw many other solo players that had joined as part of the boss raid. Many were inducted with recommendation from Kirito and I while some were tutored and recommended by Hiyoto. Speaking of Hiyoto, I couldn't find him in the cave. _"Perhaps he is busy catching more red-players."_ I thought.

Suddenly, Asuna, who was flanked with a few other Knights of the Blood Oath members, entered the cave and headed straight for the stone slab-table. The hilt of her rapier slammed onto the surface of the makeshift stone table, drawing everyone's attention from the cave.

"Can I have everybody's attention? The meeting for the field boss of Floor 56 is now in session. Everybody should take their respective positions." Asuna announced, her voice echoing throughout the cave. Everyone gathered around the makeshift stone table, looking intently at Asuna as she commenced the meeting.

"Today, Commander Heathcliff of the Knights of the Blood Oath and high council member of the Clearer's Alliance has left me in charge with the boss raid regarding Sheeptaur, the field boss of this floor." Asuna started, addressing the members of the meeting. "Now, regarding Sheeptaur. As the name suggests, its pretty much the Minotaur from Greek myths except it's been given a makeover and turned to a more PG-friendly version by Kayaba of all people." That comment earned a few chuckles from the crowd. "Anyway, Sheeptaur, like its mythology counterpart wields a giant two-handed axe. However, just because it has a heavy weapon, it doesn't mean that Sheeptaur will be slow. According to our scouts, he is very agile and heavy hitting, an unusual combination but not one we haven't faced before."

"How will we fight against that?" a player from the Holy Dragon Alliance asked.

"Our strategy should be to confine it to somewhere small so that it can't constantly zoom around and hit our DPS. Since the spawn location for Sheeptaur is literally an open desert, with no walls or objects to hinder it, I fear that we will take many losses. The agile attack pattern of Sheeptaur combined with the fact that he aggros on anyone and everyone near him will be deadly to our DPS who will get slaughtered as they attack Sheeptaur." another member informed. Looking at the uniform he wore, I could see that he was part of the vanguard scouts, who were sent to scout incoming bosses.

"Then we'll lure it to the nearby village over here." Asuna pointed to one of the locations on the spread-out map. "Since the village is not a major settlement, the anti-monster boundaries should not be in place. The village itself will be confined and restricted enough to stop Sheeptaur running all over the place and committing genocide on our DPS. The NPCs and villagers will provide ample distraction to Sheeptaur, who according to the vanguard scouts aggros at whatever's near him. That's how we get the boss." the players in the meeting nodded in approval with the plan. Although, I could tell that some were slightly uncomfortable with the fact that we were planning to use NPCs as living sacrifices. I was about to speak up when Kirito beat me to it.

"Wait! You can't be serious! NPCs are more than just objects. NPCs are different than rocks and trees. Look, they're..." Kirito started, clearly against the idea of the proposed mass suicide of NPCs.

"Do you think they're alive? Really? In this game, they are just objects. And unlike us, if they are killed, they can always respawn." Asuna interrupted coldly.

"Well, some NPCs don't respawn. Limited event and some special quest NPCs will not respawn if a monster accidentally kills them. Not only that, how will we actually know if Sheeptaur aggros on non-player objects? Using this plan, we're risking players on the notion that Sheeptaur _will_ go for the NPCs. I'm sorry, but Kirito and I aren't cool with a plan that has potential fatal flaws." I objected, defending Kirito. My defence sent the meeting into chaos, with many different members considering whether what I said was plausible. Kirito looked at me and shot me a look which said: _"Thank you"._ I smiled in response before turning to Asuna. Asuna was trying to bring order back into the meeting, repeatedly slamming the hilt of her rapier on the stone table like a gravel.

"Order! Order! SILENCE!" When Asuna shouted the last words, the chaos came to a standstill, with everyone staring at Asuna. Asuna was slightly flustered, a little bit of red was seen on her face as she glared at Kirito and I murderously. I stood my ground and glared right back at her while Kirito was trying to look at every direction except for where Asuna's eyes were. _"Kirito, the second strongest player in SAO who has faced murderous hordes of red players and the fiercest monsters, fears Asuna's glare?"_ I thought to myself, stifling the urge to laugh. When Kirito finally met Asuna's glare, he paled considerably.

"I'm running this operation, okay? In case you forgot, I'm still second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. You'll obey my orders, like it or not." Asuna said seriously while continuing to glare at Kirito and me.

"…"

 **~.:.~**

Kirito and I walked out of the cool environments of the cave into the harsh sunlight, both of us very, very annoyed.

"Just because we're in the same alliance doesn't mean that she can order us around like that." Kirito ranted.

"Well at least we can ignore her orders and not participate." I reasoned, trying to calm Kirito down. "Besides, at least she amended her plan so that we'll use the village only as a limiter rather than a sacrifice. And she even postponed the raid till three days later so that they can think of a better plan."

"Well, I owe you my thanks for defending me." Kirito said, calming down.

"That's what best friends do. Duh!" I said, smirking at him.

"Hey! What's with you guys?"

Kirito and I turned around to find Agil running towards us.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused at Agil's sudden appearance.

"You two and the second-in-command... You're always get into it, and not in a good way. First you have the duel, the soloer business and now this?" Agil explained.

"I guess we just don't click, Agil." I said while Kirito nodded in agreement.

"Remember what I said at the conclusion of the very first floor boss?" Kirito asked. At Kirito's prompt, my mind spiralled back to the very first time we fought a floor boss, but more importantly, the departing message Kirito gave Asuna and I.

" _Look, Yuuki, Asuna. You can grow powerful and strong in here. But there are still limits to what a solo player can do. So when the time comes where someone you trust invites you to a guild, don't reject it."_

"…Well, she took my advice, but who knew she'd join the top guild, and be a floor-clearing badass." Kirito's words snapped me out of my reminiscence. "Unlike this girl here," Kirito said, poking my shoulder, "who decided to ignore my advice and become even more of a floor-clearing badass. I guess I shouldn't be complaining though since I wouldn't have found her again on Floor 50 if she _did_ join a guild."

"Stop poking me!" I complained, gently pushing Kirito away from me. Agil's eyes twinkled in amusement as he watched Kirito stagger away from me, and me pouting.

"You sure you two lovebirds ain't a couple?" Agil said, bursting into laughter when he saw our reaction.

"Couple?" Kirito asked confusedly.

"L-Lovebirds?" I stuttered. I could feel another blush creeping up my face.

"What kinda drugs have you been taking recently? Cus' I'd like some too. Must be strong stuff huh?" Kirito concluded, trying to play off Agil's comments.

"Kirito, don't even try."

"Shut up Agil. Don't you have some weapons to repair or something?"

"You can silence me, but you can't silence the truth!" Agil yelled triumphantly before walking off towards the rest of the group, leaving us alone.

"Well…that was weird." I said, trying to collect myself. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" I asked, walking with Kirito.

"I dunno. Maybe relax under a tree or something. After all, today is one of the nicest days in SAO." Kirito responded. After walking for a few minutes, the landscape changed from a harsh, empty desert into some green peaceful fields. Following the sandy pathway back to the main settlement, a large oak tree caught my attention.

"Well, if you really want to relax under a tree, that one over there looks nice." I said, pointing towards the large oak tree. The oak tree itself was a generic oak tree, one that you might see in the real world. But its true selling point was the amount of shade it provided, but not only that, the fact that it was situated in a field of soft luscious green grass that looked really comfortable to lie in.

"Yeah, that sounds perfect. Soft green grass and good shade? Count me in then." Kirito stated, before walking towards the tree with me. He immediately lied down on the grass, sighing as his head touched the grass. "Wow, this really is nice." he commented. "Come on Yuuki, join me. It is your location choice after all." With that prompt, I lied down next to Kirito, staring at the leaves above us and lying comfortably in the soft green grass. I closed my eyes, taking in the serene atmosphere around me.

"What the heck are you two doing?" A voice tinged in anger shattered that atmosphere into a million pieces. I opened one of my eyes in annoyance to see Asuna looking down on both of us, hands on hips and her signature glare on her face.

"Huh? Oh, hey. What's up?" I heard Kirito reply.

"The sky. No, everyone in the Assault Team's working their butts off to clear the dungeon. All to pave a path for attacking the field boss. And where do I find you two? Out here, taking a nap. Even if you're solo players, you should take this more seri..." Kirito interrupted Asuna mid-sentence.

"But you didn't know this is Aincrad's nicest season. Today's weather is at its optimal setting."

"Excuse me…what?" Asuna said, looking at him quizzically.

"It'd be a waste to have to go to work on a day like this." Kirito continued, apparently not having a care in the world.

"Whatever... I can't believe you. Do you even understand what's going on? Every day here is another one lost in the real world."

"Yeah, but right now, we're not in the real world, are we? We're alive in Aincrad. See? Doesn't that breeze feel good? And the sun."

"Oh, come on! The weather's always the same here." Asuna complained, stomping her foot.

"If you lay down on the grass for a little bit, you'd understand." Kirito lazily countered. Asuna simply grunted.

 **Kirito's POV**

After my short encounter with Asuna, my eyes drooped as I struggled to fight against my urge to sleep. The peaceful atmosphere was built up again, making me sleepier. A mellow thud sounded at what seemed like a distance. Without a care in the world I closed my eyes, my mind drifting off into the realm of dreams.

 **~.:.~**

Opening my eyes, I woke up to the sound of leaves rustling gently along with the breeze. In the distance I could hear the crunch of boots on sand.

"Oh damn, would you look at that?! Taking a nap in the middle of a day." A young man's voice exclaimed. I could only presume he was referring Yuuki and I.

"Some people's sure got it easy." another person said, continuing on the first person's train of thought.

"Couple of lazy losers, man." A third player chimed. The three of them burst into laughter while merrily walking away, their footsteps getting more and more distant. Groaning, I tried to sit up. Key word there was _tried_. A weight of sorts was resting on my stomach which prevented me from getting up. _"How exactly did I not notice an object resting on stomach?"_ I thought, questioning how I managed an oversight like that. Jerking my head upwards I glanced at my stomach to see what exactly was on it. There to greet my eyes was the peaceful sleeping face of Yuuki who was using my stomach as a pillow. _"Wha-How-Why-What? She's kinda cute. Oh my goodness? What on AINCRAD? Why is Yuuki on my stomach?"_ Poking Yuuki on her cheek, I attempted to arouse her from her sleep.

"Eh?" was the only response I was able to get from her. Slowly, Yuuki began to open her eyes.

"Hey. I hope you slept well. You look really cute when you sleep." I blurted out, before covering my mouth, realising what I said. Yuuki's eyes widened before she leapt away from my stomach, her face flushed.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to sleep on you!" Yuuki apologised, as she bowed her head in shame.

"It's ok Yuuki. I don't really care." I reassured Yuuki, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Though I must ask. How's my stomach like as a pillow?" I added teasingly.

"Very, very comfortable. Much more comfortable than the grass." Yuuki said, looking up and giving me her signature grin. Taking my hand off Yuuki's shoulder, I stretched my arms, yawning.

"I can't believe she fell asleep."

"Who?" I asked, looking around for any foreign people that might've decided to follow our example and take a rest.

"Her." Yuuki replied, jabbing a finger towards where Asuna was, slightly curled up and fast asleep. Her hair fanned around her head like a lion's mane.

"So much for lecturing us about taking things seriously. I thought she had left us not join us. Oh well. We probably should wait for her to wake up." I suggested, sitting on top of a short stone wall, which surrounded the fields. Yuuki followed my example, vaulting onto the wall before sitting beside me crosslegged, her hand on top of mine. Dangling my legs over the edge of the wall, Yuuki and I began to talk about anything and everything that was on our minds.

Soon it was sunset, with the warm glow of the setting sun shining on us.

"Achoo!"

"Huh?" Yuuki and I looked behind us to find a slightly dazed, not quite sober Asuna standing up, grass and drool on her face. Asuna stared at us blearily for a few seconds as her mind tried to process where she was and who we were.

"Wha?!"

"Well good morning! You slept like a rock!" I greeted.

"At this point it's evening dummy." Yuuki interjected.

"Whatever."

Asuna stood in her place for a golden two seconds, her mind comprehending what was happening. Anger and embarrassment clouded her face as she reached for her rapier, half drawing it out. Panicking, I immediately hopped off the wall and ducked behind it, only peeking out from the top. Yuuki on the other had simply grinned, adjusting her posture until she was facing Asuna.

"You could've…Why did you…How…You get…one meal."

"What do you mean?" Yuuki asked, cocking her head to one side. I cautiously stuck my head out from the safety of the stone wall. Asuna gritted her teeth.

"One meal! All you can eat, my treat. Then we'll be even. Deal?"

"That's a bit generous. But before you retract your offer I'll take it." I said, standing up again, since I knew Asuna wasn't going to attack me.

"Me too. So, where do we eat?" Yuuki piped, jumping off the stone wall, flipping gracefully in the air before landing on her feet.

"Show off." I muttered, vaulting over the stone wall.

"Well, we can always go to the local restaurant, I hear the food's pretty good." Asuna suggested.

 **~Floor 56, Main Settlement: Minx, 6:00pm Game Time~**

Asuna led us to a restaurant which was disappointingly named Restaurant. Boring right? The NPC waitress led us to a small booth at the back of the restaurant. I took the seat closest to the wall while Yuuki sat beside me. Asuna sat directly opposite to me. Nervous tension was in the air, I could feel it. Another NPC waitress soon arrived at our table to take our orders. After ordering, we were back with the palpable tension, with none of us willing to break the silence between us. However, that didn't stop others breaking it for us.

A few players who sat near us started to point, stare and look.

"That's Asuna from the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they call her the Lightning Flash."

"Do you see that purple-haired chick?"

"Yeah."

"I think she's Zekken the Sword Saint. Legendary swordswoman who developed her own sword skill."

"Wow."

"Who's the shady looking guy dressed in black?"

"Well, it seems like you're shady Kirito. Perhaps I should call you Slim Shady." Yuuki teased.

"I'm not shady! I just like the colour black." I defended.

Asuna suddenly spoke up. "Well, anyway…Thank you for today."

"Why?" I asked, confused on why Asuna would thank me.

"For keeping an eye on me."

"Oh, sure. It was nothing." I waved my hand dismissively.

"The towns are supposed to be safe zones, and unless you've agreed to a duel, a player can't attack or kill you. But when you're asleep, you're vulnerable." Asuna said as she rested her elbows on the table and put her head on top of her hands.

"Yeah. Now we've got player killers who can cheat the duel system. Duels are normally supposed to be tests of strength, not a fight to the death. But even if you duel in a safe zone, your HP is still gonna go down based on the damage you take." Yuuki continued.

"All a sleep PKer has to do with is manipulate a sleeping player's finger to click the okay button. The duel begins like normal, but the sleep PKer's doing all the attacking. God knows how many times it's happened. So, anyway... Thank you..." Asuna finished.

"Uh, sure, anytime! Well, you'd do the same for us." I said, smiling. Suddenly a deathly scream shattered the pleasant environment of the restaurant.

"What the heck was that?" Yuuki asked, getting on her feet and running outside. Asuna and I followed her, sprinting towards the source of the scream. We didn't need to venture too far. Hanging from a noose was a heavily-armoured knight with a blood-red sword impaled through his chest. The noose was hung through an open window, as if it was purposely displaying the player's death. The player's mouth was wide open, and he was silently screaming, twitching and grasping at the sword impaled through his chest.

"Hurry! Pull it out!" I yelled, running on the cobblestone ground towards him. The man made a feeble attempt to pull the sword out of him, struggling to move.

"I'll cut him down, you catch him." Asuna said as she bolted towards the building housing the noose.

"Got it." Yuuki said, before running closer to the player. "Help's on the way." She shouted at the player who started to act more eractic, frantically pulling at the sword and squirming. Suddenly, he burst into small particles, showering Yuuki with them.

"Damn it." I yelled, spinning around to face the crowd of players who were gathered to watch this horrific execution. _"The only way he could've died in a safe zone is if he was beaten in a means..."_

"Everyone, look for the player with a winner icon!" I ordered, scanning the crowd myself for any indication that someone won the death duel. Yuuki soon joined my side, searching with me. The players in the crowd complied with my orders, looking amongst themselves to see who was the murderer. But no one could find anything.

"There's no one here, the room's empty!" Asuna said, leaning over the window. I went and picked up the sword/spear hybrid responsible for the player's death from the floor; it had dropped when the player died. Yuuki and I then went into the building to where Asuna was, looking for any hints to what might've happened.

"So, any idea how this could've happened?" Yuuki asked, looking around the small room where the noose was tied from.

"Well, there's always the obvious. There was a duel, and the other guy impaled the victim with that spear." Asuna began.

"That was a spear? It looked more like a sword with jutted edges on the side like roses to be honest." I said, trying to clarify whether the blade was a spear or sword.

"Yes, Kirito it's a spear. No sword has spiked blades like that. Now stop interrupting me. So the dueler put a noose around his neck and push him out the window. Wouldn't you say that's about right?" Asuna finished, looking at me with an annoyed look.

"Yeah, but... We couldn't see the winner icon on anyone." Yuuki said.

"It had to be a duel. It's a safe zone and a player died. A duel is the only thing it could've been. Or, maybe not... Either way, we can't ignore this." Asuna said with a tone of finality.

"Fine by me. You, Yuuki?" I asked, turning to Yuuki.

"Of course, we should investigate!" Yuuki said, facepalming at my question.

"As it is, a player takes huge risks going outside the safe zone. But if someone's found a way to PK inside, no one's going to be safe in the towns either." Asuna elaborated.

"Yeah, you're right." I agreed, nodding my head at her statement.

"Guess we won't be going back to the front lines anytime soon. Listen! You're going to work with me until we've solved this thing. Until we do, there won't be any time for napping, okay?" Asuna held out her hand for us to shake. Yuuki shook her hand without hesitation, earning a soft smile from Asuna.

"Okay. But you were the one who was napping." I said, shaking her hand. As soon as those words left my mouth, Asuna tightened her grip on my hand, slowly crushing it with her grip. "Ow!" I said as she released. "That was mean!" I added, wringing my hand to relieve it of pain.

"You deserved it." Asuna smugly replied before walking with us back to the crime scene. When we reached the sight, there was still a massive crowd, all shell-shocked by the death of a player in a safe zone. I guess I should be thankful that mass hysteria hadn't been achieved yet. Yuuki, immediately took charge of the scene.

"Listen up! Did anyone see what happened before that player died? If someone did, please speak up!" Yuuki said, stepping forwards towards the crowd. Murmurs immediately erupted within the crowd before dark-blue-haired girl with a similar attire as Asuna except that it was silver-coloured, approached us shyly, tears on her face.

"Sorry, I can imagine how frightened you are. Could you tell us your name?" Asuna said, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"Sure. My name's Yolko." The girl said quietly, looking around nervously. Yuuki patted the girl, trying to aid Asuna's efforts to comfort Yolko.

"Was that you? I mean, were you the one who screamed?" I asked. Yolko nodded.

"Uh-huh. I-I knew him. His name was Kains, and the two of us used to belong to the same guild. Anyway, we came here together today. We were going to have dinner somewhere in town. But we got separated in the plaza. I looked around for him, then I saw him hanging from that balcony and..." Yolko's voice broke, I could tell she was holding back tears.

"Was there anyone else up there?" Asuna asked, going into detective mode. Yolko thought for a moment before answering.

"For a second there... I'm not sure... But I think I did see someone standing behind Kains."

"And this person, had you seen him before?" Asuna questioned, her voice gentle but firm.

"Uh-uh." Yolko shook her head.

"Um, I know this is hard for you but... think back and try to remember. Could there be someone, anyone, with the reason to kill him?" Asuna pressed, trying to garner more information from Yolko.

"Uh-uh." Another shake.

"Well, I know it must be quite traumatising for you. You should probably return home. We'll escort you there if you want." Yuuki said, ending Asuna's interrogation.

"T-Thanks. I'll show you where I live." Yolko said, walking away. Yuuki, Asuna and I immediately assumed a typical escort formation with me on Yolko's right, Yuuki on her left and Asuna behind her. Yolko lead us through the labyrinth of streets towards an inn named the Golden Tree. There, she lead us to her room, thanking us for escorting her.

"Thank you for walking me back. Sorry if it's out of your way." Yolko said gratefully.

"No worries. But we'd like to talk to you again tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it." Asuna said, still in interrogation mode.

"Okay." Yolko said, before closing her door. The three of us turned to leave, walking through the reception of the inn until we were outside.

"So, what'll we do?" Yuuki asked, breaking the silence.

"Simple. We follow the only solid clue we have. If we can find out where that spear came from, it might lead us straight to the killer." Asuna explained.

"We'll need find someone with an appraisal skill. I mean, it's pretty obvious you don't have one." I responded. Yuuki simply laughed at my statement.

"Of course she doesn't. You would pretty much need to be a blacksmith to have a skill like that." Yuuki said.

"No, I don't. And neither do you. Oh, and by the way, try not to be so rude when you're speaking to me?" Asuna said, clearly annoyed at my blatant response. I put my hands in mock surrender.

"Oh, okay. Should I call you "Ms." next time? Maybe Ms. Asuna?" I said teasingly.

"Have more respect Kirito! It should be _Second-in-command_ Asuna." Yuuki said, joining in with the teasing of Asuna.

"No, perhaps we should call her by her more well-known title. 'Lightning Flash'." I said, grinning at Asuna's expression as it contorted from mild annoyance to glaring and anger. Asuna gave a groan.

"Oh, never mind. Just call me Asuna. Never my nickname. I mean, I don't call you Beater every time do I now?" Asuna said, quickly calming down.

"Okay, sure." Yuuki and I said together. "Back to the appraisal skill though. Do you know anyone who has it?" I asked, being serious once more.

"Hmm... I've got a friend who does. She's a weapon's merchant. But she's really busy these days, so I don't think she'll have time to help us." Asuna said thoughtfully.

"Ok then. That's not a problem. I know someone, an item merchant to be precise, who has an appraisal skill." Yuuki said.

"Who?" I asked, wondering who she knew that I didn't.

"Agil you dummy!" Yuuki replied, facepalming for the second time today.

"Well, it's getting late, so I'll see you two in the morning then. Any place we should meet?" Asuna asked, stifling a yawn.

"We'll meet at Floor 50, near the Central Plaza. Ok?" I asked Asuna.

"Sure, meet you there at 9:00am. Don't be late!" Asuna confirmed before walking off, presumably to her own home.

"I guess we'll go home too huh?" Yuuki asked, opening her menu. After a few seconds, a bright flash enveloped Yuuki before transporting her to our house. I followed Yuuki's example, opening my menu with a flick of my hand. Selecting the home option, I pressed teleport, closing my eyes as the same bright light consumed me and moved me back into our house. Opening my eyes, I found myself standing in the middle of our living room.

"So, you're finally here." Yuuki said. I looked around and found Yuuki sitting on one of the armchairs. I sat on another armchair, which so happened to be next to Yuuki.

"So, PKs inside safe zones. Do you think that's possible?" I asked, keen to get Yuuki's view on things.

"I can't find another explanation for what happened today other than a very elaborate PK. It's just…horrible. Another exploitation, another way for people to die in unintended ways." Yuuki said, her voice slightly breaking.

"We'll soon find the truth. I'm going to go to sleep, you should too. I mean, we have a busy day tomorrow. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this. I promise." I said, patting Yuuki on the head before heading to my room.

"Goodnight Kirito!" Yuuki said, walking towards her room.

"Goodnight."

Closing the door to my room, I swapped my equipment to my sleepwear, which was obviously more comfortable to sleep in than combat gear. Lying on my bed, I thought about today's eventually closed in on me, I for the second time today, I drifted off into the land of dreams.

 **~Next Day, 8:00am Game Time~**

The same beeping that woke me everyday started to commence its schedule, arousing me from my sleep. Getting up, I dismissed the alarm by lazily swiping my hand to the left. The beeping immediately ceased as I got up, changing into combat gear with a click of a button. Outside of my room, I was greeted by Yuuki who was strangely combing her hair outside.

"Morning Kirito. And don't even think about messing my hair!" Yuuki said, holding her brush like a weapon.

"Morning Yuuki. …Woah, hold it. I wasn't planning to mess your hair." I said, veering away from Yuuki as she finished combing her hair.

"So…any breakfast?" I asked hopefully, hoping that Yuuki had cooked something.

"Yeah but it'll be on the go. We can eat it when we get to the meeting place." Yuuki said.

"Aw…" I groaned in disappointment. "Fine."

With that, Yuuki headed towards the door, opening it and stepping outside. I followed her, stepping onto the peaceful streets of Algade, ready for another day of investigating. Walking side-by-side, Yuuki and I headed towards the Central Plaza where NPC and player merchants had set up their stalls, bargaining with other players. We soon found a bench near the fountain, located in the middle of the plaza. On this floor the fountain was built from a statue of a knight, holding up a sword towards the sky as if declaring some sort of victory. Glancing at Yuuki I saw her open her menu, with two items materialising in her hand.

"Breakfast?" I asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yup. Enjoy!" Yuuki said cheerily before handing me a roll of sorts wrapped in paper. Unwrapping the roll, I took a bite, relishing the deliciousness which was Yuuki's cooking.

"Good?"

"Why do you mean? Anything you cook is amazing!" I said passionately before taking another few bites of my roll. Yuuki looked at me as if trying to decipher whether what I said was true before turning to her own roll. Ten minutes had passed before Asuna turned up.

"Morning Asuna!" we greeted, standing up from the bench.

"Morning. So…where exactly is your item merchant friend?"

"Follow us." We replied before heading off into the streets of Algade. Asuna followed us, a strange and curious expression on her face when we turned into a smaller alleyway. We soon reached the Agil's shop where we saw a player exit the shop looking defeated.

"Thanks, my man! Come back anytime!" Agil's voice boomed from within the shop.

"Yeah…whatever." The player responded before trudging away.

Yuuki grinned before entering Agil's shop. The bright lights of Agil's shop blinded us for a second as our eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

"Looks like you're still running all the suckers down with those hard deals of yours." Yuuki said, grinning at Agil.

"No way. Yuuki! Buy cheap and sell cheap. That's my motto. I'm a business man, you know that." Agil responded, folding his arms.

"That _'selling cheap'_ part's a lie though." I said, putting emphasis on the "selling cheap" with air quotations using my hands.

"Don't go slandering my good name, brother and sister." Agil said, fist bumping Yuuki and I. Agil looked up to find Asuna standing near the door. Suddenly, Agil put me in a headlock and turned around, facing his counter.

"Not again!" I complained while Yuuki laughed. Asuna just looked on with an amused look.

"What the hell's gotten into you? I know you and Yuuki solo together but what on Aincrad are you doing with Asuna? She's in a guild! Are you joining her guild? I thought you guys hate each other's guts, straight up! What's the deal?! Are you cheating on Yuuki? Or are you starting a harem huh?" Agil said, firing question after question at me.

"Starting a harem Kirito? Is that true?" Yuuki deadpanned, her voice cold. I looked back towards Yuuki where she was glaring at me, her posture seemingly stiffened. Asuna on the otherhand was struggling not to laugh.

"Nononnono…NO! I am not joining Asuna's guild, I'm not cheating on Yuuki; we're not even dating! And I'm definitely not starting a harem thank you very much!" I clarified quickly before things started getting heated. Yuuki suddenly dropped the glare and softened her posture upon hearing these words.

"Ok then. Whatever you say. Though I still doubt the second statement." Agil said, laughing at my reaction. "Anyway, what brings you to my humble store?"

"We need your help identifying an item. It's to solve a PK incident." I said seriously.

"A PK incident? Ok then, come with me to the private consultation room, much better than out here." Agil said, leading us to upstairs to his 'private consultation room' which pretty much was his bedroom. "Take a seat." Agil said, gesturing towards the seats around a decently sized round wooden table. All of us took a seat.

"So…about this PK incident, care to shine some light on it?" Agil asked. Asuna started recapping yesterday's events to Agil while I looked through my inventory to find the spear responsible for Kains' death.

"His HP dropped to zero in a safe zone? You sure it wasn't a duel?" Agil asked as Asuna finished her recap.

"Well, no one saw a winner icon." Yuuki clarified.

"We can also rule out the murder being a sleep PK. He was walking with Yolko before it happened." Asuna further commented.

"And besides, his death was too elaborate to be some random duel. The PKer who did this had it planned out. You know, with the noose and impalement? We're pretty sure of that. And then, there's this." I said, handing Agil the blood-red spear. Agil took it with two hands before tapping on what seemed like thin air, above the weapon itself. A small menu appeared in front of the weapon, with words imprinted on it. Squinting at the menu, I could see that it was asking Agil whether he wanted to use his appraisal skill on the weapon. Tapping the confirm button, the menu disappeared. A few seconds later, another text box appeared in front of Agil.

"Hmm... A player made this."

"Really?" Asuna asked.

"Who was it? Can you tell?" Yuuki furthered, asking eagerly.

"Grimlock. Never heard of that name before. It's not worth the top blacksmith. That's for damn sure. As far as I can tell, there is nothing special about this." Agil said, putting his hand on his chin as if thinking.

"Yeah but, it's something to go on, right?" Asuna said, satisfied that we had another clue.

"Mmhmm. Is there like an item name listed?" I asked, curious to see what the murdering weapon was called.

"Hehe. You'll love it. Guilty Thorn. There's a name for you. It kind of fits though, don't you think?" Agil said.

"Seriously? Guilty Thorn?" I questioned, realising how fitting the name is to the weapon. Sticking one of my hands out and gripping the spear in reverse grip in the other I readied myself to stab it through my hand. "Here goes nothing." I said before thrusting it into my hand.

"NO! Wait! stop!" Yuuki half-screamed, leaning over the table to grab the hand holding the spear. However, it was too late. The spear came into contact with my hand and… bounced off harmlessly.

"What's the matter Yuuki?"

"What do you mean 'what's the matter?' Are you out of your mind?! That thing's already killed one person! It could've killed you!" Yuuki said angrily, outraged that I would even try to do what I did.

"I gotta admit, that was pretty stupid Kirito." Asuna said, looking over at Yuuki and I in a concerned fashion.

"I know. But we need to find out what the thing's capable of, don't we?" I replied.

"Ugh. Kirito! Would you stop being so reckless?!" Yuuki said before taking the spear out of hand and handing it to Agil. "Agil, would you please hold on to this for us?"

"Um…sure?" Agil said, stilled shocked and confused by my antics. He gently handled the spear, placing it on a nearby shelf.

"Yuuki, Kirito, we have to go back to the Golden Tree Inn. We still have another talk session with Yolko." Asuna prompted, before walking towards the door.

 **~.:.~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

" _Ugh! Why is Kirito so damn reckless? He could've killed himself."_ I fumed as Asuna, Kirito and I walked to Yolko's inn. _"Then again, why do you care so much about Kirito?"_ another voice asked within my head. _"I care because he's my best friend! I probably wouldn't be able to live I this world without him."_ I responded in my head, wondering whether I was going insane. _"Are you sure Kirito's just your 'best friend'? I feel like he means more than that to you."_ The other voice replied smugly.

By the end of my little mental conversation, we had reached the Yolko's room. Asuna knocked on her door then stepped back. The door swiftly opened and Yolko appeared.

"Hey Asuna, hey Kirito, hey Yuuki!" Yolko greeted. "Come in." she gestured towards her room.

"So, uh, Yolko, we uh... we were wondering if you've ever heard the name 'Grimlock'?" Asuna asked, once we were settled inside Yolko's room.

"Yes, I have. Actually, until a few month ago, he was in a guild with me and Kains."

"Listen, we took this spear that impaled Kains to an appraiser. We had him go over it pretty carefully, and we found out Grimlock made it. Can you... think of any reason why he did?" Kirito elaborated.

"And you nearly got yourself killed." I muttered.

"Yes, I can... I should have told you everything yesterday. It's just... I couldn't. It's something I've been trying very hard to forget. But now, I have no choice." Yolko sighed in resignation. She continued. "I should tell you about how my guild... was destroyed. When we formed it, "Golden Apple" was the name we chose. Six months ago, we killed a rare monster. It dropped a powerful ring that raised player's agility by twenty. Some of us wanted to keep it for the guild. Others wanted to sell it and split the earnings. We couldn't agree and in the end, we put it to a vote. It was five-to-three in favor of selling it. Our leader, Griselda, took it to a large town on the front lines. She was going to sell it to a broker and was staying overnight. We waited and waited, but she never came back. It was until later, we learned our worst fears have come true - Griselda was dead. To this day, I still don't know how she died." Yolko concluded her short but sad tale.

"No one's gonna leave a safe zone with a rare item like that. Too risky. You think someone could've pulled a sleep PK on her?" I commented, feeling sorry for Yolko.

"Not if it was six months ago, that method's still sort of new." Asuna responded, shooting down my idea.

"You're right. But she wasn't a random victim, either. No, the killer was after the ring. It has to be someone who knew she had it. Which means..." my voice stopped, unable to bring myself to say the accusation.

"The killer's one of the seven others in our guild. Yes." Yolko finished for me, nodding.

"We have our suspects. Now we just have to figure out who didn't wanna sell the ring." I stated, helping Asuna draw some conclusions.

"I double the killer waited till after Griselda sold the ring. She was killed before she sold it. That's my guess." Asuna said, giving one possible conclusion.

"Probably. Tell us what you know about Grimlock." I asked Yolko, curious to see what motice Grimlock might have.

"Well, I guess for starters, he was Griselda's husband. Oh, but not in real life, just in the game. Griselda was a powerful swordswoman. She was beautiful... and smart. Grimlock was kind and I can't remember a day when he wasn't smiling. They made a great couple and got along as husband and wife. If Grimlock is really the one who murdered Kains yesterday, then... he's probably going after the three guild members who voted against selling the ring. Kains was one of the three who wanted to keep the ring for the guild. I was the other one." Yolko concluded her explanation softly.

"Then, who's the third person?" I questioned.

"The other's a tank named Schmitt. And he, the last I heard, is on the front lines now with the Holy Dragon Alliance." Yolko answered.

"Schmitt, huh? I've heard that name before." Kirito said, his eyes showing signs that he was furiously thinking about where he had heard the name Schmitt from.

"He's the leader of the defense unit of the Holy Dragon Alliance. He's an exceptional lancer." Asuna informed.

"Oh yeah, him." Kirito said in an almost stupid manner.

"Wait. Do you really know Schmitt?" Yolko suddenly asked with renewed interest.

"Well, we've run into him a couple of times we were clearing bosses, so..."

"I need to see him right away. Could you please take me to him? If he's on the front lines, he probably hasn't heard about the murder. He needs to know. Before what happened to Kains happens to him..." Yolko said, completely overriding Kirito.

"We'll help you get in touch with Schmitt. I know someone in the Holy Dragon Alliance. He'll help us out. We'll visit their HQ." Asuna reassured, putting her hands on Yolko's shoulders.

"We'll go out and get Kains to you. Stay here where it's safe understand? Like seriously, its dangerous outside with what's going on." I told Yolko, looking straight into her eyes.

"All right." Yolko said, sitting back down.

 **~.:.~**

"Okay, so... how do you think a murder like this happened in a safe zone?" Kirito asked as we walked towards the Holy Dragon Alliance HQ.

"I can see three ways it could have. Right off the bat, it's possible was a fair duel. Or maybe, someone took advantage of a bug that combines a bunch of different kill methods." I answered.

"Yeah, I can see that happening. And the third?" Asuna butted in.

"Use something to bypass the protection of a safe zone. Some kind of skill or maybe an item. No... on second thought, the third idea is impossible." I said, thinking about how a murder could occur.

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked.

"Yuuki's right, the third idea is impossible. That's because the third idea is unfair. I kind of hate to admit it, but it's true. The rules of SAO are essentially fair for every player in the game. So, there is no way the game would allow murders in safe zones." Kirito explained as we reached the entrance of the Holy Dragon Alliance's HQ.

"I see. Stay here, I'll get Schmitt to come out." Asuna said as she entered. Moments later, Asuna came out with a man; a player dressed in heavy armour and a large shield. Schmitt I assumed.

"OK, we've got Schmitt, now we go back to Yolko." Asuna said, before marching off with Schmitt to Yolko's temporary home.

 **~.:.~**

Schmitt had been seated with Yolko for the past half hour, as Asuna explained the situation and murder of Kains to him. Kirito and I sat together, listening in.

"So, that's what killed Kains. And you're sure about the spear. Was it really Grimlock's?" Schmitt asked, seemingly nervous.

"There's no doubt." Yolko comfirmed. Schmitt paled.

"But then, why would he wait six months to kill him?! Unless... wait, could he have stolen the ring?! Do think it's possible he killed Griselda after all?! Does Grimlock want to kill the three of us because we didn't want to sell the damn ring? Is that why he's after you and me now?!" Schmitt said hurriedly, panicking.

"Maybe Grimlock made this spear for someone else from the guild. And maybe they are the ones who killed Kains. Or maybe... Griselda's come back from the dead to get her revenge." Yolko said, her eyes suddenly widening.

"W-What d-do you mean?!" Schmitt said, paling until his face was ghostly pale.

Yolko got up and started to pace around.

"A player can't kill another player inside a safe zone. But something else like a ghost could. I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I stayed up thinking... It wasn't anyone's fault. Anyone in the guild has guilty! Her blood is on all our hands! Her fate was sealed when that ring dropped! We shouldn't have voted! We should've done whatever Griselda told us to do! Grimlock was the only one, the only member of the guild, who said we should leave the decision to Griselda. You see, he's the only one of us who can avenge Griselda. He's the only member of our guild who has the right to avenge her." Yolko said in an almost crazy, mad fashion. She sat on the window sill to calm herself down. Schmitt was sweating buckets, terrified of what Yolko had just said.

"You've gotta be kidding. You've gotta be kidding! Why now... after all this time?! Why kill us now?! Y-You can't be okay with this, Yolko?! How can you accept being killed over some stupid vendetta?!" Schmitt exclaimed, his eyes darting rapidly from Yolko to his surroundings. Suddenly, Yolko jerked forwards, as if stabbed by something. Her face contorted into panic and pain as she slowly turned around, revealing a dagger stuck in her back, seemingly thrown from outside. Yolko teetered before falling out of the window sill onto the street.

"Yolko!" I screamed, running forward to try and catch Yolko. I was too late. Yolko had fallen onto the street below where her body shattered, disintegrating into mere particles. "No…NO!" I screamed, slamming my fist on the window sill. Kirito appeared next to me in a second, a shocked expression on his face.

"Yuuki! Over there!" Kirito yelled. "Watch out!" A dagger flew straight at me, its sharp end twisting towards me, ready to end my life right there and then. I stood there in shock, unable to move as the dagger drew closer.

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 **Cliffhanger! Mwhahahaha. Well….sort of.**

 **Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Sorry if it was a bit monotonous or repetitive.**

 **As you can see, I've decided to split the story into two chapters, just like the anime.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review and critique if you want, all criticism welcome and accepted.**

 **I'll see you next week for another chapter of the Tale of Zekken and the Beater.**

 **Peace be with you all! Have a Merry Christmas and a fun, safe holiday!**

 **~Herosassin**


	10. Chapter 10: Case Closed

**AN: We interrupt your normally scheduled activity whether it be eating a Christmas meal, browsing or sleeping to bring you a surprise chapter of the Tale of Zekken and the Beater.**

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 **Hey guys! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Guess what, I have a present for you. A new chapter!**

 **Word of warning though, this chapter isn't my best work. But it's not terrible (I hope).**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

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 **Responding to my beloved reviewers:**

 **Arcticatskill:** _"Oh no, Yuuki's gonna die! But dangerous situations don't make me worried at all, because if one of the main characters die, then what's the main point of the story? It's exactly like in movies, if the main character seems like he's gonna die but there's still 30 mins left, then what would the rest of the movie be about? Anyway, fluff, fluff, fluff. So fluffy as fluff. As fluffy as fluff. Fluffy like fluff. Fluff is fluffy, and fluffy is fluff. What is fluff? Fluff is fluff. That's all I have to say. :)"_

 **A: I mean I could always kill Yuuki off and make the rest of this story really angsty… But that would be mean and depressing for both me and you. And yes, we're getting fluffier. But the quote I think that best suits your statement is "IT'S SO FLUFFY!" (Agnes, Despicable Me, 2010).**

 **Baconlord53:** _"I love reading this story, definitely one of the better ones I've been reading recently."_

 **A: Thanks Baconlord53! I'm glad you like it!**

 **RedBurningDragon:** _"That dam fluffy xenomorph jumping on walls spitting acid ... Where's Gary LUL? Wait wasn't Minotaur shown in the progressive novel/manga where Kirito got a chest piece that's just belts in a cross? Looking at stars at 2 in the afternoon (THERE ARE NO STARS) [Narator off] Wait wasn't the cave at some hilly grass plain? It could have been a serrated great sword but whatever… Kinda want to think the other voice as Silica case last chap ... So three is tree might want to fix that"_

 **A: Gary might've accidently been erased from existence…I'm blaming my fluffy xenomorph though. I actually didn't know that the Minotaur was where Kirito got the chest piece. But I can always make Sheeptaur drop the same item. Glad you got my SAO Abridged reference/s. As for the setting, I decided to change it since… I actually don't know… EH, not a major detail. Serrated great sword? Oh, you mean Guilty Thorn? I guess, but it technically is a spear according to the book so yeah… I did use your idea, keep your eyes peeled for that. Also, thank you for picking up on the typo. I've fixed it now using magic editing powers!**

 **jorrdy12:** _"Chapter 8: Sarcasm, the most wonderful thing on the world, I wonder why not a lot of people use it. :P Nice chappie.  
Chapter 9: You can silence me, but you can't silence the truth!" SAO:Abridged reference there? Yuuki's life ending? My prediction would be that Kirito blocks it, probably or the barrier surrounding the inn blocks it. Anyway, Awesome chapters, as always."_

 **A: Yeah, gotta love sarcasm! Glad you enjoyed Chapter 8.  
Nice, you got the SAO Abridged reference! Your prediction is close but not quite. Thanks for the review!**

 **HaiWulffEx:** _"So I don't write reviews much, but I have to say, Yuuki/Kirito is one of the fewer ships that I thought should be more common (though tbf, they didn't actually meet in the anime, but I have a feeling they would get along quite nicely w/ Yuuki being positive to counter Kirito's emoness in SAO). I've read several rewrites of SAO, and so far you've added some elements that make sense in the game, yet don't actually change the story dramatically, and it all works together. Oh also, is it bad that I knew someone was going to mention Fate at the reference of Sasaki Kojirō (or to FGO players: Regent)? Anyways, look forward to reading more."_

 **A: Thanks for taking the time to review! :) I have to agree, I'm surprised why not many people ship Kirito and Yuuki together. The people who do ended up abandoning their stories… :( I'm glad you enjoy the type of rewrite I'm doing. As for the mentioning of Fate, I dunno, do you think its bad?**

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 **Thank you everybody for reviewing, following or favouriting. Every single one of those really mean a lot to me!**

 **I'm gonna make a poll just to see what you guys as readers want.**

 **Do you want me to end the story at Floor 75? Or do you want me to continue till Floor 100 (I already have a scenario in mind to make it go up to Floor 100)?**

 **Minor questions: (Just give me a review or pm me your answer).**

 **Should I give Klein a pairing?**

 **Should I write a bit about the IRL side of this story (Suguha, Aiko, etc)?**

 **Anyway, enough of that. Here's my chapter!**

 **Poll will be on profile page.**

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 **Yuuki: Merry Christmas everybody!**

 **Kirito: Yeah! I hope everybody has a relaxing one and enjoys their holidays!**

 **Herosassin: Yup!**

 **DISCLAIMER:** **Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Kawahara. All characters and most of my plot do not belong to me. I only own Hiyoto, a few plot points and a few made up bosses.**

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 **Last time on The Tale of Zekken and the Beater:**

 _ **Yuuki's POV**_

" _Yolko!" I screamed, running forward to try and catch Yolko. I was too late. Yolko had fallen onto the street below where her body shattered, disintegrating into mere particles. "No…NO!" I screamed, slamming my fist on the window sill. Kirito appeared next to me in a second, a shocked expression on his face._

" _Yuuki! Over there!" Kirito yelled. "Watch out!" A dagger flew straight at me, its sharp end twisting towards me._

As I waited for my impending death, time seemed to slow down. I noted how unfair my death was going to be. _"It's not fair! If I was to die, I would've wanted to die fighting by Kirito's side. Dying by a boss or a tough monster. Not by some stupid glitch that is completely unfair."_ I mentally ranted as the pale blue-bladed dagger drew closer and closer towards me. I looked towards Kirito to see him trying to save me; to push me out of the way or something. But both he and I knew it was too late. I gave him one last, sad smile, before looking once more at the dagger. _"I'm sorry Kirito."_ Then the dagger hit me straight in the chest. The game reacted as if the dagger was a bomb that just detonated, sending a massive shock-wave that repulsed me towards the wall. I was thrown back into one of the room's wall where I just collapsed, my body spasming in pain. The dagger clattered onto the floor violently. As my vision darkened, I could faintly hear Kirito's voice in the distance.

"Yuuki! No, this can't be happening. Yuuki!" I could hear Kirito's panicked voice as he ran towards me. "Yuuki, stay with me!" That was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

 **Kirito's POV**

"Watch out!" I yelled as I saw a dagger travelling dangerously quickly towards Yuuki. I tried to push Yuuki out of the way, but I knew there was no chance I would be able to save her. _"Damn it, I should've seen the dagger sooner."_ Yuuki looked towards me giving me an agonisingly sad smile before looking at the instrument that would soon be responsible for her death. Then all hell broke loose. An invisible force tossed Yuuki like a rag doll into the far end of the room. Yuuki slumped onto the floor, unmoving.

"Yuuki! No, this can't be happening. Yuuki!" I yelled as I scrambled towards Yuuki. Yuuki simply gave a small smile before closing her eyes, not moving at all. "Yuuki, stay with me!" I desperately pleaded. But it was no use. Angrily, I spun around to find a figure cloaked in brown clothing looking on from the top of a roof. Fuelled by rage, I gave chase, jumping out of the window sill while Asuna ran towards Yuuki, her eyes wide open in shock. Landing on the roof directly opposite to the window sill, I bolted forwards, letting my hatred and sorrow drive me. The cloaked figure started to run away as I chased him, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. _"Damn you. Where does he think he's going?"_ I thought as I leaped onto an adjacent rooftop and started running side by side with the hooded figure, albeit a narrow strip of street in between me and him. I flung a bunch of poisoned kunai at the mysterious assailant, gifted by Hiyoto to me. The poison on those kunai was Atropine, a powerful paralysis poison capable of rendering targets paralysed for ten minutes. The kunai simply bounced off harmlessly against the cloak of the figure who was only knocked aside a little, not enough to break his run. The figure continued to run, unfazed by my attempted attack. He held out a small teleport crystal before jumping off the roof, disappearing as the teleport crystal aided in his escape.

"Ah Shi-" Before I could finish my curse a large beep sounded, drowning over whatever I was going to say. Letting out a string of curses, most of which were drowned out by the game, I returned bitterly.

 **Asuna'a POV**

My mind is still failing to comprehend what just happened. We were discussing with Schmitt and Yolko about these murders when Yolko gets killed by a throwing knife. Then the mysterious assailant goes and targets Yuuki, taking her down as well. Next thing I know, Kirito goes flying out of the window, in hot pursuit of the assailant, leaving me here with the body of Yuuki. _"Wait body of Yuuki? People who die immediately disintegrate into mere pixels. That means…"_ I go to where Yuuki's crumpled form lay. Gently poking her arm to see if Yuuki's avatar is really here or is it just a bug I held my breath. I sighed in relief as my finger actually touched Yuuki, not phasing through like I thought it would. Making sure it wasn't just luck, I continued to poke her.

"Ugh…Could the person poking me stop? I just got blasted into a wall…So I hope you don't mind that I'm slightly cranky."

I stopped poking in shock. Yuuki got up from the floor, groaning. I quickly recovered my wits and tackled Yuuki into a hug. Yuuki hugged back.

"You're alive!"

"I know. I thought I would die too."

Disengaging from our hug, Yuuki looked around the room, searching for something.

"Where's Kirito?" she asked, clearly puzzled by Kirito's absence in the room. "Don't tell me he…"

"If you were going to say: 'chased after the guy who supposedly killed me' then yes. Otherwise no." I finished for her.

"That dummy!" was the only response Yuuki gave. I immediately burst into laughter. Yuuki soon joined me.

"Y-You're a-alive? Or are you a g-ghost?" Schmitt stammered, emerging from behind one of the seats.

"Yes, I'm alive." Yuuki nonchalantly answered. Suddenly, the door burst open and a very pissed off Kirito walked inside.

"You idiot! What's your problem? Well, what happened?" I semi-yelled, walking towards him.

"I lost him. He teleported off somewhere. The system's supposed to protect players inside inns. I thought, if anywhere, she'd be safe in here. And now I've also lost Yuuki. Dammit!" Kirito viciously slammed his fist against the wall, prompting a large hexagon to appear. It read "Immortal Object" before fading away after a few seconds.

"What do you mean you lost me?" Yuuki asked. Kirito immediately straightened his posture as if a spider was crawling on his neck. His eyes immediately scanned the room until it found Yuuki.

"You're alive? But how? I thought…" Kirito trailed off.

"That I was dead? That I died in the safe zone? Yeah, I thought that too, but here I am, alive and well." Yuuki finished cheerfully before embracing Kirito with a hug. Kirito was clearly caught off guard, his eyes widening to the size of saucers while his posture remained rigid. A few seconds passed before he relaxed into the embrace, wrapping his own arms around Yuuki. I felt a hint of anger and jealousy creep up on me. _"Jealousy? Why?"_ I mused as I watched Yuuki and Kirito break up the hug. Out of nowhere, Schmitt spoke up.

"That robe was Griselda's. That was Griselda's ghost! She's come back to get revenge on us. Think about it, only a ghost can PK someone in a safe zone!" Schmitt's voice was layered with terror and uncertainty.

"That wasn't a ghost. Someone's using the system to kill. That's the only way these murders could've happened in a safe zone. I know it!" Kirito's voice was laced with anger.

"Well Schmitt, thank you for coming I guess. I'm so sorry you had to witness your friend's death. Do you need us to escort you back to headquarters?" I asked sympathetically. Schmitt numbly nodded, still traumatised by the death of his friend.

 **~.:.~**

 **Kirito's POV**

After escorting Schmitt back to his guild's headquarters, Yuuki, Asuna and I walked back to the central plaza to talk about Yolko's death and the murder situation.

"I don't know what to think. Was that black-robed figure Griselda's ghost? After seeing two people die mysteriously, I'm starting to think it's possible." Asuna voiced out her concern, as we sat down on benches not too different from the ones on Floor 50.

I sat down on the bench. "No. That definitely wasn't a ghost. I bet my life on it. Why would a ghost need a teleport crystal?" I reasoned with insistence. "A teleport crystal...?" I mused, wondering about this strange detail.

"What is it?" Asuna questioned, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Nah, it's nothing." I said dismissively, abandoning my train of thought. A series of dings and clicks sounded before the all familiar sound of items being summoned to someone's hand.

"Here. Take one." I turned around to see Asuna offering Yuuki and I sandwiches wrapped in paper. Yuuki took one, thanking Asuna.

"What? Is that for me?" I asked cautiously, unsure of what Asuna was doing.

"Well, what do you think I'm doing? Showing it off? Are you gonna take it or what?" Asuna thrusted one of the sandwiches towards me. Yuuki looked very amused, watching us with deep interest.

"Uh, okay, thanks! Thank you." I said, gratefully accepting the sandwich. I slowly unpeeled the paper, inspecting the sandwich.

"Better eat it fast before it disappears. Its durability's almost down to zero." Asuna added, saying it like it just occurred to her. That comment spurred me to take a bite out of the sandwich. With that first bite, my mouth was exploding with flavour. While it wasn't as good as Yuuki's it still was amazing. Better than any NPC restaurant so far.

I gave a content sigh. "Oh, right! It's delicious. When the heck did you find time to pick this up?"

I had a feeling we wouldn't have time for lunch today, so this morning, I packed one for us. Hurry up and eat it, okay?" Asuna answered casually, blushing a little.

"Kirito's right, this actually is pretty good. You gotta tell us where to buy food like this. So far, most vendors give us pretty bland food, forcing me to cook a meal myself if I wanted to eat something decent." Yuuki added, impressed with the sandwiches Asuna gave us.

"I didn't buy these sandwiches." Asuna responded.

"Huh?" Yuuki looked at Asuna curiously.

"I made it. Yes, I can cook, so what?" Asuna pre-emptively shut down what I was going to say next.

"You too? First, I learn that Yuuki can cook like a boss and now I learn that you can too? What is it with girls who are floor-clearing badasses and cooking? I mean, if you're looking for a second career, you make a killing selling these." I praised, holding the sandwich with both hands. Asuna blushed a bit more while Yuuki seemingly started to glare at me, her eyes filled with ire. Asuna suddenly stomped on the ground, startling me, causing me to fumble the sandwich before it hit the floor, shattering into a million pixels. Just like how a person's body reacts when they die. I drop to my knees and put my hands onto the ground, in a bowing sort of posture.

"Should've been eating instead of talking." Asuna teasingly said. I didn't respond. I kept silent, thinking about something. _"First, we have a 'ghost' who needed a teleport crystal, and when he teleported, it was barely noticeable. Both murders happened with some sort of impalement where the instrument of death was still within the body when they died. Both then dropped from a location, where they shattered. And Yuuki didn't die from the dagger attack. If Yolko did, why didn't Yuuki?"_

"Um…Kirito? Are you crying?" Asuna asked, weirded out by my silent thinking. I held out my hand to silence her but Yuuki beat me to it.

"Shh! Kirito's thinking. I think he's solved the murders." Yuuki interjected.

"No way! That's right! That's it!" I exclaimed, finally understanding the whole murder situation.

"What's it? What did you just figure out?" Asuna asked rapidly.

I stood up. "I... No, wait! We never saw a thing! We just thought we did, but we were seeing something else!"

"What are you talking about?" Asuna looked at me as if I was a madman. Which in all honestly, I wouldn't be surprised since you wouldn't usually see a person suddenly spouting random things.

"What Kirito meant is that this was all an act, that there really isn't an exploit in the system or a special weapon to kill people in safe zones. Because Yolko and Kains didn't die. The game doesn't allow killing in safe-zones. But with the right tools, you can make a pretty convincing fake." Yuuki explained, surprising me right to my core. _"Wow. Yuuki literally took my words out of my mouth. Yuuki truly is amazing."_ I thought as I gaped in amazement. "Am I right Kirito?" Yuuki asked innocently with a sly grin on her face. Asuna on the other hand was still puzzled.

"And how did you figure this out?"

 **~.:.~**

 **~Floor 19, Graveyard Hill~**

 **Third Person POV**

A figure in heavy armour knelt down on the soft muddy ground, crying to himself. All around him were dead trees, blackened and rotting, giving off an uneasy and almost deathly ambience to the floor. To top it off, the dense fog shrouded the vision of all, obscuring pathways and furthering the already creepy environment. The trembling figure knelt sobbing in front of a singular gravestone. His lamenting echoed throughout the floor, loud enough that the dead would wake if it were possible.

"Griselda... The only way I can be saved now is if you forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Griselda! I swear, I never thought it was going to happen! You have to believe me!" the figure desperately pleaded to the inanimate gravestone.

"Oh, really?" a woman's voice cried out from in front of the figure. The figure looked up. Two cloaked figures seemingly appeared into existence right in front of him, causing a whimper to escape from the figure. Just like ghosts of the fallen. Maybe it was just his eyes or even perhaps the heavy fog, but the figure could've sworn that the cloaked figures were shimmering like non-corporeal beings. To the figure, he was seeing the ghost of Griselda standing right in front of him with another ghost. Echoes of the woman's voice echoed throughout the floor, each echo sounding more judgemental and sceptical than the last. "What did you do to me? Tell me, Schmitt. Tell me what you did. Tell me now." The cloaked woman demanded, causing a round of tremors and shakes to erupt from the cowering figure.

"Okay, okay." The figure took a deep breath before continuing. "The day we voted to sell the ring, I-I looked to my belt pouch, there was a crystal and a note with instructions."

"Who were they from? Who gave you them?" a masculine voice boomed threateningly. The figure could tell that the voice came from the other cloaked figure in front of him.

"G-Grimlock? Y-You're dead, too?" the figure stuttered, when the realisation that the other cloaked ghost in front of him was the husband of Griselda. The figure broke into another fit of sobs and whimpers.

"Tell me. I want to know who gave you those instructions." Grimlock's ghost demanded insistently.

"I don't know! I swear I don't know!" the figure said frantically. "The note said for me to bind the crystal to Griselda's room at the inn she was staying at, so whoever it was could get in! Then I had to put the crystal in the guild's shared storage." The figure bowed lower than before, not even risking eye contact with the ghosts.

"Then what?" Grimlock's ghost snarled.

"That's all I did! I swear! I didn't want her to die. I didn't want to be part of that! Please, believe me!" the figure pathetically pleaded, tears running down his face as he grovelled at the feet of the ghosts.

"We recorded everything you said, Schmitt." A soft, less threatening feminine voice said. Schmitt looked up, confused and terrified at the same time. The two 'ghosts' pulled back their hoods.

 **~.:.~**

 **~Floor 56, Central Plaza, Same Time as before~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

"Wait! They're alive?!" Asuna's face radiated relief and shock. Kirito stood up and sat back onto his seat, next to Asuna.

"Yup, they're alive. Both Kains and Yolko." I said cheerfully, popping the 'p'.

"B-But they..." Asuna started, still confused by our assertion.

"Inside safe zones, a player's HP doesn't deplete on its own. But the durability of an object does. Just like that sandwich you gave me." Kirito explained, smiling at Asuna's reaction.

"Still should've been eating instead of talking." I teased, poking Kirito in the ribs.

"Wha-Hey! Stop poking me." Kirito complained, trying to evade my poking assault.

"What?" Asuna still wasn't understanding what Kirito was getting at. I on the other hand understood what Kirito was saying. Heck, I had a similar theory as Kirito.

"That day, the spear was sticking out of Kains's armour. It wasn't draining his HP though. It was draining the durability of his armour." Kirito explained slowly, stepping through his logic.

"But then, h-his body didn't disintegrate, it was..." Asuna started, slowly grasping the idea Kirito was proposing.

"Yup, just his armor, nothing else. And at the precise second when his armour's durability expired, poof, Kains used a crystal to teleport out of his armour. Sure, it looks a lot like what happens when a player dies in the game." I finished for Asuna. Kirito stared at me strangely, and when he saw I had caught him looking at me he immediately jerked his head towards another direction, refusing to meet my eyes. "Only he didn't die." I added for dramatic effect, smirking as Asuna's expression morphed into confusion.

"Th-Then, what happened to Yolko?" Asuna asked.

"I bet the dagger was laid to her back the whole time. She had it all planned out." I answered, sneaking glances at Kirito, who was seated behind Asuna. Kirito nodded his head in approval.

"But we would've seen." Asuna protested, pointing out a valid point.

"Only if she turned around though. Remember, she never turned her back to us, not even once. She probably kept an eye on her equipment's durability level while she was talking. When it got down to zero, all she had to do was act like she was hit by a dagger thrown from outside the window. Then the other person would've thrown another dagger to make it look more legit. Only he didn't anticipate that Kirito and I would rush in so fast, causing his throw to hit. And so, the second dagger ended up hitting me, giving me the first hint to their little scheme." I explained, wincing as I remembered the painful aftereffects of the dagger hitting me. I was knocked out by the impact which caused Kirito to think I had died or something. I felt a small flutter in my heart. _"Kirito really cared about your supposed death. See, Kirito really cares for you."_ A voice which sounded suspiciously like Silica said in my head. _"Of course Kirito cared. He's my best friend for crying out loud."_ I answered in my head. _"Face it. You love Kirito and Kirito loves you back."_ The voice said blatantly. _"Well…I'm pretty sure Kirito only sees me as his best friend. And I'm NOT in love with him!"_ I responded half-heartedly, as if my conscious self couldn't quite agree with what I said; well thought since this was going inside my head. _"Whatever makes you sleep at night."_ The voice sighed in defeat.

"Uh Yuuki? Is everything alright?" Kirito asked, waving his hand in front of my eyes. I blinked.

"Yeah everything's fine. What happened?" I asked.

"You sort of just spaced out for a bit. Anyway, Asuna was asking you a question." Kirito said, his concerned expression melting into relief.

"Who was the person in the black robe you chased?" Asuna asked, curious to see who Kirito and I thought he was.

"It wasn't Grimlock. I'm pretty sure of that. But Kains, he and Yolko were in it together. They figured out how they could use this method to fake their own deaths. Getting people to think there were murders in the safe zone was a calculated twist." Kirito answered for me, causing Asuna to twist around to face Kirito.

"So everything they did was designed to draw the person behind Griselda's murder, and expose him. The only way to find out for sure was by faking their deaths and creating an illusionary avenger." Asuna reasoned, looking at Kirito and I for approval. I nodded in agreement. Kirito followed suit before opening his mouth to speak.

"And Schmitt was the person they had pegged for it, probably since the beginning." Kirito concluded. "Hey, you still have Yolko on your friend list, don't you?" Kirito asked, addressing Asuna and I.

"Oh yeah… we have her on our friends list. If she died, they would be missing on our friends list." Asuna said out loud, realising the flaw in Yolko's plan. She opened her menu, quickly scrolling through her friends list before reaching Yolko's name. Tapping on the name, a full profile of Yolko popped up next to her menu, displaying her location, and current equipment. "According to the system, right now, she's in the field on Floor 19. It looks like she's on a small hill, just outside of town. Graveyard Hill." Asuna informed us.

"I see. That's it then... I guess they can handle it from here. I mean, our job's pretty done now, wouldn't you say?" Kirito said, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Mmhmm" Asuna and I stood up like Kirito.

"Case closed then." Kirito declared. "Let's get back to the restaurant. Hopefully we can finally get something to eat. At your treat." Kirito reminded. I smiled in agreement while Asuna simply nodded.

 **~.:.~**

Seated again in the same restaurant, coincidentally the same booth and sitting in the same exact seats, Kirito was just finished ordering his meal when I finally spoke.

"We ended up playing right into Yolko's hands, didn't we?" I said, watching as Asuna and Kirito nodded. "You know what? I didn't really mind."

"Yeah, me neither." Asuna said.

"Yeah, me too" Kirito voiced. Another bout of awkward silence fell in between us.

"Hey... If you were in their guild, and a super rare item like that dropped, what would you have done?" Asuna said, breaking the silence. I thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I don't know. I play solo, part of why I do, is so that I can avoid situations like that." Kirito answered truthfully.

"Hey! What am I? Your invisible helper? Chopped liver?" I complained, punching Kirito in the arm.

"Sorry Yuuki." Kirito apologised sincerely. I glared at him for two seconds, watching as Kirito started to pale before breaking into a smile. "I guess we work too well together that I completely forgot that I was soloing with another person. I guess we would never have such a situation since Yuuki and I literally share everything, monster drops, equipment, healing items. Whatever we need, we just ask each other and be supplied with it. So…I guess we would just share it." Kirito elaborated in-depth while Asuna listened with interest.

"Also, with an item like that, I probably would've let Kirito use it since my AGI is way higher than his. That way, we help accommodate to our weaknesses; if Kirito was particularly bad at AGI, I would give him a AGI-boost item while if he had a DEX-boost item and my DEX was pretty low, Kirito would give it to me to use." I added, smiling at the perfect teamwork/resource-sharing system Kirito and I had subconsciously created while soloing together.

"Wow, you guys really have created the perfect system for small groups. I'm really impressed." Asuna complimented, genuinely impressed at how we would deal with such a situation. "In my guild, the one who got that killed gets it. Those are the rules we have to play by. You know how in SAO, if a player gets a drop, no one knows unless that person reports it. Our way, no one can hoard stuff because we work it out who gets what ahead of time. Also, the rules my guild play by gives the concept of marriage in this world real meaning. Think about it, if you marry, you have to share your item storage. If you're single, you can hide whatever you want, but... You know, when you marry, you can't hide it anymore. I think sharing storage who the person you marry to is wonderfully pragmatic. But at the same time, I think it's also very romantic." Asuna took a breath when she finished.

"Hey." Kirito said awkwardly.

"Yeah, what?" Asuna asked bluntly.

"So, uh, how many times you've been married, anyway?" Kirito asked. Asuna suddenly looked really pissed and grabbed the nearest utensil, which so happened to be a knife unfortunately for Kirito, and pointed it straight at a now very scared Kirito. I started laughing at the stupid yet adorable antics of Kirito. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle the laughter, but I still was shaking from laughing. Kirito immediately pressed his back towards the back of his seat, eyes widened in fear. "Wait! I didn't mean it! That didn't come out right!" Kirito defended quickly. "You were talking about how it's romantic and plastic, and, uh..." Kirito was cut off by Asuna. I snorted in laughter. _"Plastic?"_

"I did not say that, you ass!" A kick emphasised the 'ass' part resulting in Kirito flinching in pain.

"Ow!" I on the other hand was laughing like no tomorrow, unable to stop myself. Taking a few deep breaths, I quickly calmed myself down, supressing the laughter to mere giggles.

"What I said is 'it's romantic and pragmatic!' For your information, the word pragmatic means practical! My god..." Asuna angrily clarified, still glaring at Kirito.

"You think marriage in SAO is... practical?" I asked, saving Kirito from Asuna's scary glare.

"Of course. If you're married, everything's out and open. You know, 'cause of common storage."

"I see. Ah…" A growing realisation dawned on me. _"We previously said that we didn't know the motive of the killer. But what if it was about the ring. If married couples have shared storage, if one was to die, the other should have all the items. Meaning Grimlock must've…"_

"What?" Asuna asked. Her voice broke me from my thoughts.

"That's it. Common storage. Okay, say your spouse dies, what happens to the items?" I said, asking one more question to see if my theory was correct.

"Huh?"

"Item storage is shared, right? So, when one person dies, what happens to their stuff?" I pressed, hoping to find confirmation on my theory.

"If you're talking about Griselda and Grimlock... Hmm... If one of them died..." Asuna was lost deep in thought.

"Everything would go to the surviving spouse, right?" Kirito suddenly said, answering my question.

"And if everything goes to the spouse, then the ring in Griselda's storage..." I started, hoping Kirito would finish my sentence.

"...should be sitting in Grimlock's storage, not the killer's. It's been sitting there this whole time." Kirito finished. I was so, so proud of Kirito at that moment. I beamed at Kirito who seemed to cheer up and sent a smile back to me.

"So, it was never stolen in the first place?" Asuna asked.

"No, it was stolen. It doesn't matter if it's still there. Grimlock was basically stealing it, the minute he put his plan into action." I said with conviction. My disgust of Grimlock had grown, knowing that he would stoop so low as to kill his own wife just to get a stupid item in game.

"Well, the case is reopened I guess. Wait…if Grimlock was the one who killed Griselda then… Yolko and Kains are in danger!" Kirito exclaimed. Asuna looked at him confusedly while I considered Kirito's point. "Think about it. Grimlock was the one who forged Guilty Thorn, the same blade that 'killed' Kains. That means he's aware that Yolko and Kains are investigating this murder case. And since their alone in an obscure floor…it would be the perfect way to silence all remaining witnesses." Kirito reasoned, standing up.

"In that case, we need to help them!" Asuna said, following Kirito.

"So, how's this for a plan, Asuna and I will try and find Grimlock who probably will be watching from the sidelines to see Yolko and the others killed while you intervene Kirito." I said, standing up and leaving the table.

"That sounds like an awesome plan Yuuki."

 **~.:.~**

 **~Floor 19, Graveyard Hill~**

 **Third Person POV**

You were... recording? So, that's how it is, huh? You cared about what happened to Griselda after all." Schmitt questioned, slightly relieved that Griselda's ghost wasn't real and definitely wouldn't kill him.

"Of course, we did. But you didn't betray her because you hated her, did you?" Kains said, eyeing Schmitt.

"No, I didn't hate her, honest! I mean, sure I feel guilty getting money from my part of it. But the rare weapon I bought help me get in to the Holy Dragon Alliance, so…" Schmitt suddenly couldn't talk, as if someone had frozen his jaw. His legs then failed him, forcing him to fall on the floor, facedown on the ground. A small ache on his back tipped him off to his situation. _"Ow! Paralysis?"_ The heavily armoured knight thought as he looked at his health bar. While his health barely dropped, a bright yellow square with a lightning bolt icon appeared on top of his health bar, signalling that he had a paralysis effect.

"One down!" a maniacal voice cackled. Yolko and Kains stepped back in shock, looking at the three black-hooded figures in horror. Among the three hooded figures, the figure with the axe seemed to be the one who inflicted the paralysis. Schmitt managed to work up his courage and willpower to utter a few words.

"No way…"

"That's a hell of a catch. A big shot from the Holy Dragon Alliance." The hooded figure in the centre who seemed to be the leader, holding what seemed to be a cleaver spoke in delight. He bent over to look at Schmitt's face, examining him as if he was some rare fish, freshly hauled.

"Laughing Coffin, the murder guild." Schmitt said, fearing for his life once more. Only this time, the threat was a real one rather than a imaginary one. Yolko and Kains paled further until their faces were white.

"All right. What game should we play with these three?" the leader asked mockingly, turning towards his two accomplices.

"Oh, I know, I know. Let's play the one where they have to kill each other! The last one standing wins!" the hooded figure on the left said childishly, taking immense glee in his idea. The leader just sighed.

"I know it's your favourite. But last time we did that you killed the winner anyway." The leader said, in an almost tired manner, as if he has had this argument many times.

"Oh, come on! You spoiled it. It's no fun if they know they're gonna die!" the figure on the left pouted, crossing his arms.

"All right. Let's get the show on the road." The leader ordered as the three of them drew their weapons. Kains stepped in front of Yolko, drawing his sword. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to take on three Laughing Coffin members on his own. He simply wasn't skilled enough. Plus, he was outnumbered. Suddenly, like an ex-machina, a horse neighed in the distance, like a herald announcing the presence of someone. The steady clop of a horse galloping could be heard, getting louder and louder as each second passed. The three murderers hesitated, turning around to see who was going to interrupt them.

"Huh?" the murderer on the right questioned. A black cloaked swordsman riding a black horse charged straight at the murderers. The swordsman reigned the horse in, resulting in the horse bucking and throwing him off the horse.

"Damn." The swordsman cursed, before standing up and slapping the horse. The horse galloped away off into the distance. The swordsman drew his sword threateningly, his sword glowing a warm orange.

"Looks like I made it just in time. So, now what? I've got thirty players from the Assault Team come. You guys wanna stay and fight them?" the swordsman said, challenging the murderers to stay and fight.

"Tch..." the hooded figure on the left said in disgust.

"Come on." The leader said, walking past the swordsman with his accomplices, disappearing into the eerie fog surrounding the entire floor.

"Nice to see you alive again, Yolko." The swordsman said, before taking off his cloak to reveal himself as Kirito.

"You won't believe me, but... after it was over, I was going to tell you the truth. I am sorry we had tricked you to help us out." Yolko quickly apologised, bowing her head in shame. Schmitt stood up, having recovered from the paralysis before looking at Kirito gratefully.

"Kirito, thank you for saving me, but... How did you figure it out? How did you know those three would attack us here?"

"I didn't figure anything out. I was acting on a hunch, is all. Hey, Yolko, Kains, level with me. You guys asked Grimlock to make the spear and knives, didn't you?" Kirito asked politely.

"We did, but he was against our plan from the beginning. All he wanted was to let Griselda rest in peace." Yolko affirmed, raising her head to look at Kirito.

"He did forge the weapons for us, but only after we got down on our knees and begged him." Kains added, thinking back to where he and Yolko literally begged for days in front of Grimlock.

"Sorry, but he had a different reason for not liking your plan. Griselda had nothing to do with it." Kirito informed, sheathing his sword.

"Huh?" Yolko and Kains said in perfect synchronicity. Both had almost identical expressions of utter confusion, with the only difference being Yolko had her head slightly cocked towards her left shoulder.

"He was worried faking PKs in a safe zone was gonna draw a lot of attention. He didn't wanna take the risks of someone snooping around for answers. We figured the whole thing out about half an hour ago." Kirito explained.

 **~.:.~**

 **Yuuki POV**

Asuna and I were searching through the forest of dead trees to find anyone hiding near the vicinity where Yolko, Kains and Kirito were. As we combed through the forest with a keen eye, I kept my hand near my sword handle. This floor in general was giving the creeps, with its horror-like setting and heavy fog. A perfect setting for an ambush. After a few minutes of searching, something caught my attention. A hooded figure - _why does everyone wear hoods and cloaks?-_ was standing in front of a tree trunk, peeking out towards Kirito, Yolko and Kains. _"Grimlock."_ I tapped Asuna on the shoulders, causing her to spin around to face me. I put my finger on my lips before pointing towards the hooded figure peeking out from the trees in front of us. Asuna nodded in acknowledgement before sneaking up behind Grimlock. I followed silently behind Asuna, ready to grab Grimlock before he escaped. Asuna counted down using her fingers.

 _"3, 2, 1."_

When her fingers went to zero, Asuna roughly grabbed his shoulders while I forced his hands behind his back, quickly bounding them with rope. Grimlock gave no resistance, simply sighing in resignation as Asuna forcefully pushed him, walking the captured Grimlock towards where Kirito, Yolko and Kains were. As we approached them, I could hear Kirito talking to them.

"It was Grimlock? And those were his instructions, and he killed Griselda, too?" Schmitt asked, shocked at this new revelation.

"No, I doubt he was the one who actually killed her. Although, I'm pretty sure he went and found himself for a red player to do it for him." Kirito answered.

"My god... But then, if he really did have her killed, why would he go to all the trouble just to help us out?!" Yolko's voice was filled with raw shock and anguish.

"You explained your plan to him... in detail, didn't you? Your plan was the perfect chance for him to bury the ring incident and any witnesses once and for all. All he'd have to do is sit back and wait for you, Schmitt and Kains to get together. You'd be sitting ducks." Kirito explained, stepping through his logic.

"That's it. That's why. They knew we'd be here because he hired them!" Schmitt said angrily.

"Yeah. My guess is it was probably the same bunch he hired to kill Griselda." I answered, walking towards Kirito. "Hey Yolko, Kains, Schmitt." I greeted merrily. All three nodded their head in acknowledgement.

"Oh my god…" Yolko gasped as she saw Grimlock being lead by Asuna. Grimlock compliantly walked towards us, his face void of emotion.

"Found him." Asuna said in a sing-song tone.

"If you wanna know more, you can ask the man yourself." I gestured to Grimlock before taking my place next standing next to Kirito. Kirito and I high-fived each other. Grimlock stared at his former guild members, his cold and calculating eyes analysing them. Then he broke into a grin.

"Hello. Long time no see, comrades." Grimlock said as if he was in a friendly reunion with his former guildmates and friends.

"Comrades? What are we in? Communist Russia? No one uses comrades, like ever." Kains spat with a sarcastic edge, clearly disgusted by Grimlock's true motives.

"I can't believe it. Did you... Did you really plan on this? How could you Grimlock?! Answer me! Why did you kill Griselda? Was it that money? Was the money so important to you that you killed your wife for?!" Yolko had reached the point of screaming at Grimlock. Her eyes were filled with grief and rage. Grimlock simply laughed, creeping all of us out.

"Hmph. Money? Did you say money? It wasn't for the money. I had to. No matter what, I had to kill her while we were stuck in this world. I had to kill her while she was still my wife. And because she was also my wife in the real world. In a way, she was the perfect wife, ideal, so pretty, so submissive. The whole time we were together, we never had a single fight. But when we were trapped in here, in this world, she changed. In here, I was the one who was afraid, terrified with playing this death game. But she looked so much happier here, more alive than she ever did in the real world. There was nothing I could do about it. She changed. The Yuko I loved was gone! Gone!" Grimlock's demeanour suddenly shifted to insanity, his voice gaining the properties of a mad man. Grimlock didn't stop, not noticing any change happening during his rant. "But then I realized that I didn't have to live with the way she was. Murder _is_ part of this game! If I couldn't have the Yuko I loved back, I'd settle for the memory of her. And who could blame me?!" Grimlock finished with the eyes of a madman. I surveyed the surrounding area. Yolko was glaring at Grimlock, shocked at his proclamation while Schmitt and Kains were staring blankly at Grimlock, as if they were considering whether these words were just the product of a madman. Asuna, Kirito and I just looked in disgust, revolted by what we heard.

"That's why you did it? That's the reason you killed your wife?" Kirito asked with in an incredulous manner.

"It's reason enough. And someday, you'll understand too. Once you've found love, believe me, you'll do anything to keep it." Grimlock replied nonchalantly as if his reason was a perfectly sound one.

"You're wrong, Grimlock. You've got it all wrong. You didn't love Griselda. That's not what you felt. You stopped loving her when you became selfish and possessive!" Asuna snarled walking straight for Grimlock. "You don't know the meaning of love! You just lusted for her!" Asuna spat, glaring right into Grimlock's face. Grimlock's eyes suddenly widened before he fell to his knees, sobbing quietly as if he was filled with remorse.

"Kirito. Yuuki. Asuna. We appreciate your help. But I think this is our problem to deal with now." Kains stated as Yolko and Schmitt stepped forwards to apprehend the broken man known as Grimlock. I nodded in agreement. They took Grimlock and started to walk away, melting into the fog leaving us alone in silence.

"Hey." Asuna's voice had mellowed from the violent outburst she unleashed on Grimlock.

"Hm?" I looked towards Asuna.

"Say it was you, and you married someone, and later on, you found out she/he had a side to her/him you didn't know about? How would you feel?" Asuna asked.

"I guess... that I was lucky? Because, I mean, if you married someone, that means you already like whatever you know about him, doesn't it? And if you discovered something you didn't know about him before, and fell in love with that, too, then... that would be awesome?" Kirito answered awkwardly.

"You, Yuuki?" I thought about it for a moment.

"For me…I wouldn't mind at all. If I married someone, I would've truly loved him. So, finding a new side wouldn't change who I was married to, it just adds to what I love about them. I guess." I stated, trying not to blush as my mind rebelliously showed me images of Kirito and I near a wedding altar. With me in a snow-white dress while Kirito was in a crisp black suit. Or images of Kirito and I together, married. Thankfully, Asuna's voice freed me from my thoughts.

"Right. Good answers. Anyway, I'm hungry after all this. I didn't really get to finish my dinner." Asuna said with a small grin.

"Oh... yeah, you didn't. Neither did any of us. We've got to stop making a habit of running away from restaurants before our meal has been served." Kirito said dryly.

"We should get back to work tomorrow. We've been off the front lines for two day."

"Yeah. we were hoping to have this floor totally cleared by the end of this week." Kirito said, gesturing to me. We started walking away from the grave when Kirito tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around to see Kirito pointing towards some distant figure shimmering above Griselda's grave just as the sun rose. The ghost was waving at us, smiling in appreciation.

"What the? I-Is that for real?" I said, scared at what looked like an actual ghost. Kirito gave the slightest nod. The shimmering ghost of Griselda soon faded, a smile on her face as she…rested in peace I guess?

"Hey, Kirito, Yuuki. Do you wanna friend me? It's kind of silly not to. It's convenient. We are in the same Assault Team after all." Asuna asked, sending us a friend request. I immediately accepted while Kirito lingered as usual.

"But we are solo players." Kirito said casually, his hand still hovering on the message, reflecting his indecision.

"Hey, I didn't say you had to form a party with me. You should try to make some friends while you're here." Asuna teased.

"Yeah, I don't know. It's not that I don't want to…Plus I already have friends. Like my best friend Yuuki! But I guess having more friends wouldn't hurt." Kirito conceded, tapping on the accept button.

"Guess we can finally say that the case is closed huh?" I asked.

"Yup." Kirito said, imitating the way I popped the 'p'.

"Case closed then." I declared before Kirito and I sprinted to join Asuna in searching for a restaurant to finally eat in peace in.

* * *

 **And that's that. Episode 5 of the anime is done and dusted. This isn't my best chapter but definitely not my worst. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you soon for another chapter!**

 **Feel free to review and tell me how to improve. I will listen to all criticism. Or you can just praise my chapter. That does miracles to my ego and pace of writing. All flames will be used as ammo for my imaginary flamethrower.**

 **Once again, Merry Christmas to all of you. Enjoy yourselves and stay safe.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **~Herosassin**

* * *

 **Secondary Update for those who check this story regularly.**

 **I'm on holidays and have been busy the past week. So... I'm still working on Chapter 11. Sorry! I'll try to have it out ASAP.  
I'm really sorry!**

 _"The time for all to be revealed is nigh,_

 _to the secret place where sacred trees roost high,_

 _a door to be found for six of you,_

 _choose well or face death's cruel, cruel brew._

But for now, what lies in the shadows shall remain there."


	11. Chapter 11: S-Times-Infinity Class Item

**AN: Um... Hi?**

 **I would drone on about my excuses on not updating (holidays, away with family, etc.) but I think you'd rather I just give you the chapter.**

 **So, I'm just going to go straight to the chapter.**

 **Sorry for not updating for so long.**

* * *

 **Responding to my reviewers:**

 **jorrdy12:** _"LOL, Kains comment of 'Comrades? What are we in? Communist Russia?' was hilarious, nice chap, and merry christmas to you too!"_

 **A: Glad you liked that joke. I'm glad you like that chapter!**

 **Articatskill:** _"_ _"'Um...Kirito? Are you crying?' Asuna asked, weirded out by my silent thinking." (The Tale of a Zekken and the Beater, Chapter 10) Wouldn't be surprised if he was, XD. The way I see it you shouldn't end this story at floor 75 unless you have something special planned out. You would need to develop the plot a lot more in order to do that, or else this would just end up like the anime missing a lot of potential. Poor, poor Klein. Doesn't know what he's been doing wrong. Lonely man. Give him a good pairing would ya? It'll be nice to have him more involved. (Psst, gotta have those teases?) And onto the question if you should write about the IRL part of this story you could if you want to, I've always liked fics where families could see what they're doing ;). Overall this chapter stays close to canon, but good work so far. Looking forward to your next update, MeRrY ChRiStMaS!"_

 **A: Ok, thanks for your opinion. I'll most likely construct a story arc to go from floor 75 to 100 anyway. As for Klein... I might make a pairing for him but I'm afraid I'd be bringing way too many OC Characters. Maybe I'll pair him with Ilda or something. The IRL part of the stories would be more of a minor 'update-overview of the game status' sort of thing, nothing major but a refreshing change of setting. It's good to know that you enjoyed that chapter.**

 **InfiniteAJ:** _"_ _I feel like I'm honestly being teased with this fic. But that's a good thing. I'm really enjoying this so far. It's hard to find good Yuurito fics out there, and this is probably the best I've read so far. I love the 'slow burn' relationship between Kirito/Yuuki, it makes it all the more exciting when they finally get together. Excited how you write that too, hope it won't be too much like the anime, which felt really forced. Also, I think you should go past floor 75, and also show more of the outside world and the families. It's a nice refresher. Honestly surprised no one else has really done this, I know I would if I ever wrote SAO."_

 **A: Well, at least I'm doing something right. Is Yuurito the actual shipping name? I always thought of it as Kiruki or something like that. I'm glad you like the 'slow burn' relationship but me being me, I'll probably chuck a few obstacles and things in between to make it more...agonising. I sort of have a plan on how I would write the actual 'get together' moment so I hope I don't disappoint when I do get that chapter out. As for going past floor 75, I've counted your vote. The IRL part as I said earlier in another response won't be a central focus, more of just an outside view of what's happening during the game.**

 **RedBurningDragon:** _"_ _So if Kirito ever has a voice in his head about how he likes Yuuki could it be Agil._ _Good old Restaurant best restaurant in all of SAO great lol"_

 **A: Yup, exactly what I was planning. I feel like I'm making too many abridged references... Need to cut back on those.**

 **galocasta:** _"_ _First of all, the way you articulate the story it's interesting, it's better than many stories that I've read so far. But I would suggested that you improvved your dialogues please, many of them are hard to tell or read. Try to think about dialgoue as something that can be said, read not once, but many times and aloud, that way you would know when a dialogue it's fluid and organic._

 _Other thing you can try to improve it's to put in the situation of the characters to see what they would really say in that moment, for example in the first paragraphs of this chapter (I know you say it's not your best, but I used it as example) you put: "Yukki! No, this can't be happening. Yukki!", for the situation maybe it would be better to put that just screams "Yukki!" and add more detalis about how he feels in that moment._

 _Finally, there are sometimes that the characters talk so formally, try to make it more organic and direct. Hope it's helpful to you, anything just send me a message."_

 **A: Thank you so much for your feedback! It's really, really helpful! I'll be sure to take into account your suggestions for future chapters. I cannot tell you how glad I am for you giving me this review. This means that I can write even better! I'll try to make the dialogue more casual though sometimes the actual script for the anime makes it sound a bit formal.**

 **jord477:** _"_ _Oooohhhhh I can't WAIT for the next chapter! I LOVE this fanfic! Good luck and update soon! Sorry, didn't mean any pressure! By the way, are you gonna do a chapter or scene where Yuuki and Asuna confront each other about their feelings for Kirito? I kinda can imagine the two having a duel over who loves him more."_

 **A: Yay, another person loves my fanfic! :) I'll take your suggestion and see what I can do. No promises though.**

 **HaiWulffEx:** _"_ _This was totally your worst chapter...jkjk. So this was basically a setup chapter/episode in the LN/anime, and it sort of feels the same here, though not in a bad way. One of the other comments saying how they feel inorganic is sort of right, and I felt as if they weren't clicking with each other as if they were actual friends, if that makes any sense? Either way, writing wise it was great, but I personally prefer setting some more time to describe the scenes they're in, or having their thoughts in the area (though tbf, we all sort of know how they look like, but descriptors are still welcome). Anyways, to answer the question about Fate, tbh, idk. It may just be that I'm too addicted to FGO rn, haha."_

 **A: Noooooo... Oh you were just kidding? Phew. With the inorganic and not-acting-as-friends problem, thanks for raising it with me, I'll do my best to correct that in future chapters and in rewrites (If I get to that). With your preference to description, I'm on the same boat but sometimes I feel like I'm too wordy and just go on and on with the description. But I'll try to describe more.**

 **AnimeLord737:** _"_ _Another impressive chapter! I'm sure it was a struggle to get it out for Christmas, so thanks for doing that. I really like your narrative voice; it's quite humorous and sarcastic while still being clever. In response to your question, I think continuing the story until floor 100 would be a good distinguisher between this story and the anime (it always bugged me that the anime stopped at floor 75, it seemed anticlimactic). Anyway, another quality chapter as usual! :)"_

 **A: Thanks! It sort of was a struggle but not a lot since I planned to release the chapter the day after Christmas anyway. I'm glad you like my narrative voice too! Thanks for the answer, I'll count it in with the votes.**

 **justTHATguyOVERthere:** _"_ _I actually really liked this story. Though your author's notes aren't as funny as you seem to think they are."_

 **A: Thanks! Good to know you like my story. As for my ANs well, at least you like my story. My AN is pretty much just me speaking my mind so its ok if I think they're funny but you don't think it. Everybody's got a different sense of humour anyway.**

 **RedAce16:** _"_ _Awesome job! I love the story! Although I think that Yuuki and Kirito should split up occasionally. Kinda like the anime Asuna and Kirito did, like seeing each other at boss battles and stuff. But not permanently together. Does that make sense? Like it could just be your OC (whose name I can't remember how to spell) has 2 jobs from Kirito and Yuuki to do, that's kinda what I mean. And I think it might be better if Kirito meets Lisbeth without Yuuki. Well actually Idk cuz it would be externally funny to see a pissed off Yuuki for Lisbeth's feelings. Anyways keep up the amazing work! I can't wait for you next chapter!"_

 **A: Thanks! I also agree that Yuuki and Kirito should split up. And I like your idea for how they split up too although I plan to put in some fights, quest splitting and other fun things like that as well. And for your information, I plan to have Yuuki accompany Kirito and Lizbeth for that whole self-imposed quest. So yeah!**

 **That's all the reviews I have. 10 reviews on one chapter! NEW RECORD!**

 **Ahem... anyway, onwards to the chapter!**

* * *

 **~Floor 55, Wanderer's Desert Town, 10:00am Game Time~**

 **Yuuki's POV**

"You ready?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Sis, I was born ready. I'm gonna show you why my Guandao is so much better than your lil' sickle."

"I'll let you know that this 'lil' sickle' is almost as tall as you!"

Itu huffed indignantly as Ilda held her scythe upright to measure its height against Itu. The scythe was just short of clearing Itu's head; by about a centimetre or so.

"Since when did size matter?" Itu countered innocently.

"Well, _you're_ the one who implied it."

"Can both of you stop? We're about to attack a field boss and you two are arguing on whose glorified hitting stick is better." Kirito chided, appearing next to me.

"Glorified hitting stick?" the siblings snarled in unison.

"Yup. Yours," Kirito said pointing to Itu, "is just a glorified spear, which in turn is pretty much a glorified stabbing stick, while your sister's," Kirito continued, pointing towards Ilda but more specifically her scythe, "is just a very weird spear with its spearhead sticking from the side of one end. Which again, is just a glorified hitting stick." Kirito finished explaining, seemingly proud of his explanation. I facepalmed and prepared for the maelstrom of tirades that would be the aftermath of insulting the siblings' weapons. I waited for said maelstrom. It never came. The siblings were struggling to form any words, resorting to glaring and menacingly holding their weapons. Kirito looked at them with a passing glance, seemingly not affected by any of their vicious glares.

A loud roar suddenly sounded from the distance, signalling the beginning of the raid. Kirito drew his sword as did I while the siblings readied their weapons, all traces of their previous bickering gone. We all ducked behind a sandstone wall near the edge of the town, preparing ourselves for the moment when the vanguard scouts would lure Sheeptaur into the village. From there, all tank groups would engage the boss monster, drawing immediate aggro before the DPS groups, which included us, charged. After the whole 'murder in the safe zone' fiasco, Asuna had called for another boss meeting where she admitted that there were some faults with her original plan and thus proposed a better one. While we would still lure it into the village to stop it going absolutely mental on us, we would surround it and overcome it with sheer numbers. Since Sheeptaur would aggro at whatever was nearest to it, if multiple players were near it at once, the AI should be confused on which player to target, essentially 'soft-locking' or 'glitch-locking' it.

Another roar shook the ground beneath us. I took a quick peek at the other DPS groups who were hiding inside sandstone buildings, on top of giant palm trees and inside haystacks. The tank groups stood on guard with their shields raised as they slowly began to gather near the centre of the village, where our assault would take place in. The village centre was nothing special, just a crossroad where four distinct, sand-baked brick roads met, intersecting each other. These four roads were the main streets of the small village, where the daily, scripted activity of NPC merchants would occur, activities such as running side-street stalls, selling rare and common items. The buildings which neatly lined the roads were positioned behind the stalls, all with open-able doors to access hidden and sometimes useless NPCs. All in all, it was a typical desert village with perfect vantage and ambush positions.

In the distance, I heard heavy yet quick footsteps nearing the southern end of the town.

"Get ready, the boss is here." I whispered, ducking behind the sandstone wall once more. Kirito nodded in acknowledgement while Ilda and Itu simply tightened their grip on their weapons and tensed up, ready to spring into action. The heavy footsteps gradually neared before stopping. A loud battle cry rang through the air, followed by the sound of armoured players streaming towards the boss. Kirito immediately jumped up, vaulting over the small sandstone wall, charging at Sheeptaur. The rest of us followed, drawing out our own weapons and activating our skills. A sea of colours surrounded Sheeptaur as numerous players swarmed the boss, striking viciously. I could barely hear anything other than the din of grunts, shouts and battle cries, all of which were entirely unnecessary in my opinion.

I actually felt sorry for the Minotaur; had it actually been sentient, as it was tossed around, battered from side to side as each blow knocked it backwards. Apart from that, we could clearly tell that the AI in charge of Sheeptaur was severely confused, looking back and forth between players, its axe poised to strike but never actually moving anywhere, since its aggro kept switching from player to player. I joined the fray, my sword slashing left and right, cleaving great gashes into Sheeptaur. I alternated between two of my strongest hitting skills, gracefully weaving a tapestry of wounds onto the "PG-ed Minotaur".

In my peripheral vision, I saw Ilda and Itu with their unique weapons, jabbing, slashing and slicing at the boss while narrowly avoiding hitting other players who were attacking the boss. Kirito fought right beside me, hacking and slashing like a demon, his Elucidator constantly shifting colours as he exhausted his entire list of skills on the monster. When Sheeptaur got down to its final healthbar (it had four to begin with), it held out its axe, rotating it so that the blade of the axe was sideways. I had a sinking feeling that this boss raid wasn't going to be casualty free. Sheeptaur bleated vehemently, (because anything is possible in Aincrad apparently…) before spinning around, battering all the player surrounding it with its axe. No one had enough time to react to such an unforeseen counterattack, resulting in everyone who was attacking Sheeptaur to be sent flying as the axe smashed into each and every one of our bodies.

My body was once more tossed like a rag doll onto the nearest structure, which so happened to be one of the street-side stalls. I felt my back erupt in pain as I suddenly found myself lying on the ground, the burning hot sand pressing against my back while my head was haphazardly resting on one of the poles which supported the tarp on top of the stall. I looked up to find a charging Sheeptaur with demon-red eyes, charging at me with its axe in tow. I scrambled onto my feet, my hands reaching for my sword. That's when I hit problem number one. My sword had been knocked out of my hand when Sheeptaur saw fit to go all Ninjitzu on all of us. Problem number two was that I had an aggro-ed Sheeptaur, hellbent on attacking me for some reason unknown to me. Sadly, my sword was lying on the ground just a few metres away from me, so tantalisingly close. But I knew I wouldn't be able to reach my sword in time. So instead, I steadied myself, ready to evade any incoming attack. I ducked instinctively, feeling wind rush past my head from Sheeptaur's strike. I rolled underneath its legs, ignoring the pain it caused as the rough sand and stones which made up the road dug into my back. I recovered from my roll and stood up, immediately charging at the monster's back while it was delivering devastating blows against the stall. Honestly, what did the poor stall do to it anyway? My hands lit up, an orange, electric-like substance formed an outer layer surrounding my fist as I went to punch Sheeptaur.

Unlike what I thought before, using a martial arts skill against a boss monster wasn't too bad of an idea, except for the fact that it was a FREAKING boss monster! My punch made no noticeable difference to its healthbar nor its actual body. All it did was push it forward so that it facepalmed with the street-side stall. I guess it should've been face-stalled? Or face-slammed? Anyway, taking this minute opportunity, I ran to my sword, fumbling with the hilt. By then, Itu, Ilda and Kirito jumped into the fray, attacking Sheeptaur with new ferocity. Itu decided that Sheeptaur didn't need to use its legs, rapidly jabbing at its legs while his sister concluded that Sheeptaur would've been better if it was neutered and well… dealt with _that_ area. Kirito on the other hand parried all of Sheeptaur's attacks, allowing Itu and Ilda to attack undisturbed.

Holding out my sword, I ran at the boss monster, helping Kirito parry Sheeptaur's attack. We worked in perfect harmony, one of us parrying its attack while the other attacked and vice-versa. Soon, Sheeptaur was slain by the consistent and powerful attacks of Ilda and Itu. As the body of Sheeptaur dissipated into pixels, I saw the siblings high-fiving each other, clearly proud of their part in felling the sort-of mythological beast. I glanced upwards towards a corner of my vision where my healthbar was located. Upon reaching it, I was relieved to see that I was still in the green zone, safe from the death's grasp.

"You're either extremely brave or extremely dumb to have initiated a fist fight with Sheeptaur." Kirito said, walking towards me, his sword already sheathed on his back. "Or both." Kirito added cheekily.

"I think brave was the word you were looking for." I coolly responded. Kirito simply shrugged.

"Did you get any items?"

"No… not really. You?"

"I think this might be something you want." Kirito promptly opened his menu, tapping on a few displays until a message popped up in front of me.

* * *

[Player] Kirito wishes to trade with you.

He is offering:

1 x [Armour] Woollen Boots

In return for:

Null

Do you accept?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

"Woollen Boots? What are those for?" I asked, confused at the seemingly useless piece of equipment being offered to me.

"Well, according to the game, it's a luxury item that not only looks fashionable, but also boosts strength by about..." Kirito looks at his display. "70 points. Wow, that's a really valuable item huh?"

"I hope you're not implying that I'm weak." I said with mock anger.

"N-No, it's just that I thought you might want a boost to your strength stat so that you could wield Absolute Obsidian better." Kirito explained. "Plus, a little bit of strength wouldn't hurt, especially when it comes to punching boss monsters." he added teasingly.

"Please explain to me how woollen boots do anything to boost strength." I demanded, completely perplexed.

"Don't ask me, it's game logic. Everything goes in virtual reality. Or games. Are you gonna to take them or not?"

"Sure, why not?" I said confirming the trade request. Suddenly, a pair of boots appeared in my menu. I tapped on the item name before clicking equip. My feet suddenly felt lighter. I looked down to see if the game glitched and just unequipped my normal shoes. Instead, what I saw were purple boots with its exterior being covered by a felt-like texture. The interior was made up of soft fluffy wool which made it comfortable to wear.

"Wow. They look really nice. It suits you." Kirito said, staring at my new boots.

"Thanks. These are really comfortable." I said as I busied myself in feeling how comfortable my new article of clothing was. I was about to speak when Itu and Ilda walked towards us, seemingly continuing their weapons argument, as if it had never been interrupted.

"So, you got a what?" Ilda asked, casually twirling her scythe with her left hand like a badass.

"Sis!" Itu whined, dragging out the word. "I told you a thousand times over! I got a key which apparently unlocks a door, somewhere on this level."

"Can I see the item?"

"I would except that it won't allow me to equip it, hold it or trade it. For trading, there simply is no option. It's just…non-existent. As for equipping it or holding it, I just get a cryptic message instead." Itu answered, shuddering at the thought of the cryptic message.

"What does the message say?" Ilda curiously asked, momentarily stopping her scythe twirling.

"The time for all to be revealed is nigh, to the secret place where sacred trees roost high, a door to be found for six of you, choose well or face death's cruel, cruel brew. But for now, what lies in the shadows shall remain there." Itu recited, ending the last verse with a shiver. The 'cryptic message' sent chills up my spine. The four of us stood in silence, processing the creepy message and what it could mean.

"Well, at least you guys aren't fighting over who's stick is better." Kirito said, breaking the silence with attempted light-hearted humour.

"Sticks?!" The siblings simultaneously yelled, twirling their 'sticks' menacingly at Kirito.

"Um, I meant _awesome_ weapons." Kirito quickly clarified. But Ilda and Itu didn't buy Kirito's clarification. Instead they moved towards Kirito.

"We've got a bone to pick with you. Let's see if our weapons really are _sticks._ " Itu said threateningly. Kirito gulped before turning towards me.

"Yuuki, help me out?" Kirito squeaked, eying the insulted stick wielders.

"Ok. I suggest you run." I cheerily said. Kirito attempted to puppy-eyes me but sadly it was ineffective.

"Not very helpful Yuuki." Kirito deadpanned, slowly backing away.

"Well, at least I told you to run." I sang mockingly. Itu and Ilda decided to jump Kirito while he was talking to me, catching him by surprise. Fortunately for Kirito, he was able to jump away in time, avoiding the none-business ends of both weapons.

"Get back here!" Ilda started to chase Kirito, with Itu actively trying to cut off Kirito. They ran all over the town, Kirito running like a madman whilst begging Ilda and Itu to forgive him. The rest of the raid boss party watched on in amusement, cheering on Ilda and Itu as they started to catch up to Kirito. Kirito attempted to run behind me, only to be tackled by Itu.

"Ok, Ok! I give up. It was wrong for me to call your epic weapons, sticks." Kirito conceded, struggling to break out of Itu's tackle. Ilda caught up with him and began to poke Kirito with the butt of her scythe, causing Kirito to squirm.

"Stop, stop!" Kirito pleaded, rolling around as Itu joined in with their make-shift torture session. I giggled at the sight of Kirito squirming and pleading, watching as the blue-haired girl and green-haired boy mercilessly punish Kirito for apparent blasphemy.

"What on earth is going on?" Asuna demanded. Itu and Ilda stopped momentarily, allowing Kirito to roll away.

"Well Kirito kinda insulted their weapons by calling them sticks which really pissed them off. So they decided to take matters into their own hands." I explained.

"Oh. I see. Carry on then." Asuna nonchalantly said.

"What?!" Kirito said, completely surprised by Asuna's reaction. Itu and Ilda spun around immediately, finding Kirito in the motions of escaping. "Oh crap."

After a few more minutes of Kirito getting chased, tackled and poked, Itu and Ilda relented, letting Kirito go free. The raven-haired swordsman glared at me with some traces of playfulness before turning to face Asuna who was addressing the entire raid group from the top of a building.

"Well done everybody! Despite that unexpected attack by Sheeptaur, we have managed to achieve a casualty free victory! We haven't achieved such a victory since Floor 20. Now, we shall proceed to the labyrinth of this floor! Onwards!" Asuna said with an inspiring tone. Asuna leaped from the building onto the ground in front of them, heading towards the southern side of the town. The raid group cheered before marching, following Asuna. I turned around, following the back of the group with Kirito and the siblings. Kirito walked in step with me.

"Why did you leave me in their wrath?" Kirito complained, rubbing multiple locations where the angered siblings had assaulted him with the non-lethal ends of their weapons, which had dealt minuscule damage that still hurt.

"Well, you sorta deserve it." I answered, patting Kirito on the shoulder. Kirito and I walked in silence for the rest of the trip. As we walked, I looked around at the scenery which slowly turned from a lifeless desert into a valley with hills of varying sizes on either side. The valley was filled with lush green grass and tall vibrant trees which grew on top of the hills. In the middle of the valley was a dull stone tower reaching past the skyline, ascending into the heavens onto the next floor. Intricate golden double doors guarded the dull tower. It was decorated with two images of a silver tree, one on each side stood. The embossed silver trees, of which bronze apples were imprinted to be hanging from their branches decorated the door, with an overlapping apple serving as a lock with a keyhole.

"That's strange, generally labyrinth tower entrances don't have doors with locks on them." Asuna mused, holding her hand up to stop the marching raid party. The raid party stopped walking, joking around and talking to each other as they stopped. Asuna dramatically pushed the doors open only to find that it didn't budge. A loud droning sound emitted from within the doors causing everyone to draw their weapons. Kirito and I drew our weapons in sync, holding them in front of us, bracing for any sort of attack. The ground started to shake violently, stirring unease within the raid group. I looked around, observing our surroundings. The environment around us did not change at all, no sudden spawns, no colour scheme change in the actual valley, nothing. Looking back towards the doors I readied my blade. The previously colourless keyhole suddenly glowed red before a gust of wind blew everyone backwards. Kirito and I dug our blades into the ground, anchoring ourselves into the ground. Others stumbled backwards, taken by surprise.

"What the hell? What was that?" Ilda questioned, leaning on her scythe.

"I have no idea. It just seems like Asuna can't open the door." Kirito responded, walking towards a confused Asuna. Tapping her on the shoulder with his finger, Kirito sheathed his sword and waited for a response. Asuna looked over her shoulder to find Kirito and started to have a heated discussion with him. I walked towards them, hoping to listen in. Ilda and Itu followed, their weapons poised in a casual but guarded position.

"Well, I don't know! All it said was 'defeat Sheeptaur and obtain the quest key'. What's that supposed to mean?" Asuna said clearly annoyed.

"Hey, I've got a key." Itu said, stepping right into the conversation.

"Perhaps the key opens the doors?" I suggested, motioning for Itu to try my suggestion. Itu opened his menu with the swipe of his finger, scrolling through its interface until he found the key. Tapping the object, he tried to equip it only to have the same cryptic message pop up instead.

"Nope, I can't use it. It's still giving me that stupid prophecy-style message." Itu complained.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Asuna said, frustrated by this setback. She threw her hands in the air in annoyance. "Wait what prophecy mes-" Behind her, a knight from the Blood Oath approached, interrupting her.

"Vice-Commander Asuna!" he called out before whispering something into her ear.

"…Really? Ok…Thanks. I'll dismiss the rest of the party." Asuna said to the knight before turning towards us. "It seems like the key did something. One of my guild members has just informed me that the door has a new decoration…an inscription along with a list of six names." Asuna informed, gesturing for us to follow her to the door. As we approached the door, I looked straight at the inscription, only to find Itu's cryptic message. The message itself was scrawled in neat cursive along the surface of the embossed trees. Below the inscription, a numbered list with six names. Itu, Ilda, Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna and Hiyoto. _"Strange…Why would our names be below the inscription. Unless the system is assigning us to this…quest-thing."_

"What the?" Asuna's face morphed into one of interest, her eyes scanning through the inscription.

"I think it's a quest of some sort. Maybe at the end of this quest we'll be able to unlock the door." Itu theorised.

"The time for all to be revealed is nigh,

Go to the secret place where sacred trees roost high,

A door to be found for six of you,

Choose well or face death's cruel, cruel brew."

Ilda read the message out aloud. When Ilda had said the words 'sacred trees', the trees embossed on the doors glowed green, as if signifying that we needed to find those trees.

"It's a quest. Probably a prerequisite before entering the Labyrinth. And the six names underneath this…riddle probably is the system's recommendation of people. Meaning that the five of us, including Hiyoto should try and clear this quest, whatever it is." Kirito suggested, his eyes still fixated at the glowing trees.

"To be honest, these trees look similar to the Golden Apple Tree from Greek Myths. And it just so happens that the Golden Apple Tree was sacred, a wedding gift for Hera I think." I noted.

"So, you mean we have to find the Golden Apple Tree somewhere on this floor? Asuna had picked up on what I was suggesting. "That would explain why the tree glowed when Ilda read the part about a sacred tree."

"First we need Hiyoto. If the game itself is suggesting that we take Hiyoto, I'd rather not go otherwise. Perhaps this is a super hard quest. I'll try and contact him. Asuna, perhaps you should explain the situation to the rest of the raid party since you are the leader of this operation." Kirito suggested. Asuna gave a curt nod. "Everyone else, we probably should head back to town to stock up on items. We'll meet up at the town square in about an hour. Ok?" Kirito continued, looking around for any objections. None were found. Our little group meeting broke off as Asuna went to inform the raid party about the change of plans while Kirito stepped aside to message Hiyoto. Ilda and Itu decided to head back to town and buy supplies.

 **Kirito's POV**

Honestly, I wasn't expecting the system to recommend six players to complete this prerequisite quest. It sort of undermines the whole 'choose wisely or face death's cruel, cruel brew'. I walked aside and started a voice-link with Hiyoto. A voice-link was pretty much an in-game messaging system except for the fact that it enabled voice messages and calls. I waited patiently for Hiyoto to answer, scanning the tops of the valley, trying to find where the golden apple tree might be. The sudden sound of blades clashing quickly drew my attention.

"Hey Kirito! Nice of you to call me but I'm kinda busy right now." Hiyoto greeted. I heard the distinct sound of a blade slicing through the air. A grunt and what sounded like a kick followed.

"Sorry about that. I'm currently with Heathcliff dealing with some Laughing Coffin members." Hiyoto explained. I could hear shouting in the distance as well as cursing, presumably from the red players. "So, why are you calling me?" Hiyoto asked.

"Well, we're currently at the gates of the Labyrinth tower of Floor 56. We only just found out that the gates are locked with a prerequisite quest. It's supposedly really tough and the system has recommended you as one of the six that will complete this quest." I informed quickly, knowing that Hiyoto was probably engaging Laughing Coffin members as he listened, meaning that he doesn't have time for details.

"I see. Who else is going?" Hiyoto asked. I heard the sound of a weapon skill being activated. What followed by the sound of a blade entering an entity's body. A muffled strangled cry sounded. "Got you. Now I just need the rope Heathcliff." I heard Heathcliff reply.

"Here you go."

The sound of rope binding on wrists was clearly projected through my end of the voice-link, causing me to wince slightly at the force used.

"Ok, that's the last of them." I heard Hiyoto say to Heathcliff. So, what you're saying is that you need me to come back to Floor 56 to help the clearing effort. Right?" Hiyoto asked, returning his focus on our voice-link.

"Pretty much."

"Is Asuna going with you on this quest?" Hiyoto asked in an eager manner.

"Yeah. Why?"

"N-Nothing. Just wanted to know. Who else is going?" Hiyoto replied casually, contrasting his previously eager speaking manner.

"Yuuki, Ilda, Itu and I."

"I see. So where do you want to meet?"

"Floor 56's town square one hour from now. Is that ok?"

"That should be fine. Heathcliff and I are almost done anyway. I gotta admit, his guild members are very good at catching red-players."

"Sweet. See you there!"

"Same to you!" With that, Hiyoto disconnected our voice-link. Closing my menu with a flick of my hand, I walked back to where Asuna and Yuuki who were apparently waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" Asuna asked as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently.

"I just voice-linked with Hiyoto. He was in the middle of dealing with some LC members. He also specifically asked if you were on the quest. Strange huh? Anyway, he'll be meeting us in the town square in the next hour." Yuuki looked amused while Asuna simply nodded in acceptance of my explanation. "How about you two? How did the raid party react?"

"They were sort of glad to be dismissed. I mean they were certainly unnerved by the riddle on the doors. But we had no objections. In fact, they were deathly quiet." Yuuki said, resting her hands on her sword, which she had stuck into the ground in an upright position.

"Anyway, now I need to contact Heathcliff and let him know about this new development. I'll meet you guys at the town square." Asuna excused herself before walking away.

"So…A quest huh? How tough do you think its going to be?" I asked Yuuki. The purple-haired girl just shrugged before withdrawing her sword from the ground and sheathing it.

"I have no idea. Better prepare for the worst though."

"Do we have any items we need to stock up on?" This time, Yuuki nodded.

"We need more potions and crystals. I'm out of status crystals. You?"

"No, I've still got all of my crystals and potions."

"That's because you keep using mine!"

"Well technically its ours since we're sharing them."

"Still, you could always use some from your stockpile." I sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

"Good! Now let's get back to town and buy more items. If we don't go now, we'll be late for our meetup." Yuuki cheerfully said, grabbing my hand and literally dragging me towards town. That completely caught me off guard.

"Yuuki! Let go of my hand!" I feebly demanded. Yuuki ignored me, continuing to drag me whilst gripping my hand tightly. "Yuuki." I whined, dragging out the vowels. Yuuki stopped and turned towards me still gripping my hand. Her eyes were twinkling mischievously, and an impish grin was on her face. She looked absolutely stunning in my opinion.

"What?" she asked in mock confusion.

"Could you…let go of my hand?" I asked weakly.

"Why? We're gonna be late if we walk at your pace." Yuuki said.

"Fine. I'll race you to town. First one there has to pay for the items we buy. Deal?" I offered.

"You're gonna lose." Yuuki sang teasingly.

"Do you accept or not?"

"Deal." Yuuki confirmed, an amused smile on her face.

"Three, two, one." I counted down, bolting down the road when I reached one.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Yuuki playfully complained before laughing, taking off after me.

 **~.:.~**

"I win!" Yuuki pumped her arm in the air. "Now, let's go shopping for items." Yuuki said before dashing off to the nearby street stalls.

"Wait up Yuuki!" I yelled after her, following her through the busy street.

After ten minutes, Yuuki finally finished buying everything she needed. I obviously paid for the items, sighing as my Col balance dropped from six-digits to five digits.

"Thanks Kirito." Yuuki said sweetly.

"Come on, we have to go to the town square. We only have ten minutes left and I'd rather we weren't late." I urged, grabbing Yuuki's hand, leading her through the crowded streets towards the town square where there were less people.

"Hey Kirito! Over here!" Someone called out. I looked around, Yuuki reciprocating my actions. Suddenly, I felt a tug on my arm to find Yuuki pulling on my arm, pointing towards three faraway figures standing on the other side of the town square, waving their arms at us. It was Itu, Asuna and Ilda. Itu was laughing, pointing at us. I was puzzled at what he was pointing at before it hit me. I was holding Yuuki's hand. In public. My face heated up slightly and I quickly let go of her hand in embarrassment. A look of disappointment flashed across Yuuki's face before it disappeared, replaced with a façade of cheerfulness.

As we headed towards where Itu, Asuna and Ilda were waiting for us, a figure snuck behind us and tapped both of our shoulders at once. Yuuki continued to walk while I turned around. There was no one behind me. Confused, I turned back around only to feel another light tap on my shoulder. I turned once more to meet the same result. I continued to head to my destination when I realised that Asuna, Ilda, Itu and even Yuuki were stifling laughs. I thought nothing of it until I was tapped on the shoulder for the third time. I spun around, reaching out to swat the perpetrator that kept tapping me. While my eyes saw nothing out of the ordinary, my left arm came into contact with something solid which according to my eyes was thin air. I heard an 'oof' sound before a stark-white haired boy suddenly materialised into existence, stumbling slightly towards my left.

"Hi." the white-haired boy with two jagged daggers strapped to his side greeted innocently, straightening his cloak a wolfish grin on his face.

"You could've just said hi you know?" I grumbled.

"But what fun would that be?" I glared at Hiyoto.

"Well, now that we've got everyone here, we should probably discuss how we're going to find this…sacred tree." Asuna said, interrupting our staring contest.

"I think what the riddle meant is that the Golden Apple Tree – I'm just going to call it GAT – is on either side of the valley since the riddle said the 'sacred trees roost high'" Itu suggested, quoting a part of the riddle.

"Good thinking Itu. We'll start there and see if we can find it." Ilda praised her little brother, patting his head affectionately. With that, the six of us started to go once more to the valley that housed the Labyrinth tower and the sacred tree.

 **~.:.~**

"Where is it? We've searched both sides of the valley and seen nothing!" Yuuki was on the verge of pulling her hair in frustration.

"Well it's gotta be somewhere. Maybe its not in this valley? Like another location?" Asuna suggested.

"There is literally no other mountain, hill or anything of the likes on this floor. And if you're suggesting that we go searching through all the floor from one to fifty-five then I'll say we're doomed to fail." Yuuki ranted, her face scrunched up in annoyance. For the past two hours, we'd been walking around the valley, looking for any clue of where the GAT was. The closest thing we found was a seemingly random clearing within the extremely thick and dense forest which populated the valley tops.

"I'm sure it's on this floor. Somewhere. What time is it Hiyoto?"

"It's currently two minutes till sun…set…" Hiyoto trailed off, deep in thought.

"What's wrong Hiyoto?" Asuna asked, moving to Hiyoto.

"Guys, entertain me for a bit. In Greek myths, the tree was in the Garden of the Hesperides, right?" All of us nodded in confirmation. While none of us knew the Greek myths particularly well, we knew the basics. For me, the always fascinated me, reading the tales of heroes and gods, mythical beasts fighting in a fantasy world which never would be reality.

"And the Hesperides were sisters, daughters of Atlas the titan and nymphs themselves. They guarded the garden, right?" Hiyoto continued, getting more worked up by his idea. Again, the five of us nodded, not seeing where Hiyoto was going with this.

"But from these myths, there was a hidden part that not many people know of. The Hesperides were known as the nymphs of sunset. Meaning that their garden was unable to be accessed until sunset since it wouldn't appear." Hiyoto explained. Asuna opened her mouth with a silent _'ah'_.

"You mean that the garden would only appear and allow entrance during sunset. Then it would disappear?" Asuna asked, trying to gauge whether her theory was correct. Hiyoto gave an enthusiastic nod.

"That means that it'll appear" Asuna checked the time by opening her menu, "now." As if on cue, the sun set and a wide beam of golden light shone directly towards a particular spot near where we were. The same place where the random clearing in the middle of the forest was.

"Over there!" I pointed towards the wide ray of golden sunlight which was shining like a beacon, directing us to the garden. We ran as a group, following the sunlight until we finally reached the garden. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Where endless copies of trees were supposed to be, numerous beds of flowers took their place, adding colour to the mindless shades of green. In the middle, a giant tree stood stoically, golden apples hanging lusciously from its branches. A small hill stood in the background and on top of that hill, a small obsidian black door stood proudly, a silver keyhole shinning brightly. "There's the door!" I exclaimed, pointing at the door.

"Good job Hiyoto!" Itu and I patted his back. Ilda started to walk into the garden when a small breeze suddenly picked up. Four strands of golden light shot out from the giant tree heading towards us. It landed on the grass in front of us, transforming into four young, barefooted girls dressed in Greek chitons. The chitons were pure white except for a strip of gold lining the hem. One of them stepped forwards, closing the abysmal gap between us and them.

"Intruders. Leave now or face our wrath." she warned spitefully.

"Look, we just want to –" Yuuki started only to be interrupted by the Hesperides standing in front of us.

"Very well thieves, you have chosen your fate. Sisters, let us defend our garden from those who wish to steal the golden apples! Let us wake Ladon!" The lead girl turned to her sisters. They started to call out Ladon's name in unison. A fifth strand of light violently shot out of the tree, except that this strand was obsidian black. The strand of light slammed violently in front of the tree, erupting into shadows that slowly melded into a terrifying form. A dragon with many, many heads, as big as the tree itself. The shadows solidified to reveal the true horror which was Ladon. A dragon with silver scales as big as saucers stood tall and proud, all one hundred of its heads roaring in unison. Each head had two curved horns which were neon blue at the tip and jet black for the rest. The head itself housed a pair of venomous green eyes, a nose and a giant jaw filled with what seemed like thousands of sharp white teeth. Ladon breathed streams of fire into the air before staring us down, as if waiting for us to approach it. I glanced back at my friends to find all of them wearing two expressions. One of absolute fear and one of awe. My eyes swept around the garden. There was nowhere for cover and no clear path to run past Ladon. As my eyes traced back to Ladon, my eyes widened as I looked at its healthbar. Each of its hundred heads had two healthbars above them. Above the healthbar, a name tag. Ladon, Guardian of the Golden Apples. Level 67.

"Well, its nice knowing you all. I think we're doomed." Yuuki stated, drawing her sword, preparing herself for the fight of her life.

"This is the only way forward. The only way to progress through this death game. We're going to kill that dragon and clear this quest. But we're only going to do that if we work together. Who's with me?" I said, trying but failing in my opinion to be motivational. I drew my sword and held it up in the air. Yuuki immediately stood by my side, her sword raised in agreement. Slowly, each one of our group drew their weapon and touched their weapon against Yuuki's and my weapons. As the last weapon touched, we all quickly withdrew our weapons, holding them in battle stances familiar to us.

"Hiyoto, you and Asuna take the left side! Kirito and Yuuki, you're going to take the right flank. Itu and I will take that beast head on. Because of its size, I think it will be slow so don't bother blocking, just evade." Ilda commanded before charging straight at Ladon. As we stepped forwards, Ladon roared at our challenge before breathing blasts of fire at us. I immediately jumped diagonally towards the right, avoiding the blast of fire. Yuuki flipped into the air, gracefully landing next to me before charging at Ladon. I looked over to see Asuna strafing left and right, dodging fireballs as thirty of Ladon's heads were diverted in their direction. Hiyoto was nowhere to be seen; I assumed he used his cloaking ability. Itu and Ilda haphazardly weaved though the smaller streams of fire being sent at their direction; ducking, sidestepping and jumping to avoid getting hit.

As we were three metres away from Ladon, thirty-three heads turned towards our directions, rapidly firing fireballs at us. I flicked my sword upwards, activating a sword skill. My sword blazed with a silvery fire as I sliced through the fireballs, causing them to explode before they burnt my face off. Yuuki was doing the same thing, her sword surrounded with an aqua colour as she sliced through the torrent of fireballs. We slowly trudged through the fireballs until we were one metre away from Ladon itself. Asuna had already reached Ladon and was leaping into the air, slashing at nearby heads with her rapier. Hiyoto was still invisible. Itu and Ilda used their weapons to pole vault over the continuous jets of fire being shot at them.

Ladon started to attack more aggressively, extending its many heads, trying to take bites out of us. Two heads lashed out at me from the left and right while a third head started to charge up a stream of fire in the middle. I jumped in the air, twirling mid-air and swung my sword in a curved arc, slashing through the two heads on my left and right while narrowly avoiding the river of fire being poured out at me from below. I landed to the right of the blazing trail of fire, my boots making a crunch sound as it landed on the grass. I glanced at the healthbars of the two dragon heads I had just hit and was pleased to see that they had dropped a fair amount, with the first healthbar being lowered by a third. The two heads growled in anger before roaring ferociously, drawing more dragon heads towards me. Soon, around fifteen heads were facing me, some attempting to bite me, others rapidly firing fire balls at me and the rest set themselves on fire, blue fire blazed violently around them as they attempted to bash the living crap out of me, using their heads as flaming maces. I looked at the hopeless situation I was in, looking towards the others to see how they were doing as I deflected, dodged and blocked incoming attacks.

Yuuki was dealing with eighteen heads to my amazement, slashing at the biting heads, deflecting oncoming fireballs towards the flaming mace heads which in turn were blasted away from her. Raising her purple sword into the air, she jumped, tossing the sword mid-air and catching it with a reverse grip before thrusting down on a nearby head which was not on fire. That particular head screeched in agony before raising itself, trying to shake Yuuki off. Yuuki tightened her grip on her sword, clinging onto the head as its health depleted. As soon as the head she impaled with her sword lost all of its health, she flipped off, landing on another head and doing the same thing. An angry howl made me turn back to my situation where eight of the heads opened their mouths, a small but slowly growing ball of energy forming at their throats. They had started charging for another breath attack. The rest were pelting me with fire balls, trying to distract me from noticing the eight heads preparing to blast me into oblivion. I charged towards the eight heads, expertly twirling my sword from side to side, intercepting cover fire from the seven heads who were situated on my left and right. I leaped up into the air before copying Yuuki and stabbing my sword at the nearest head. The head immediately stopped charging, rearing its head, trying to shake me off as it swung erratically. I kept my grip until I saw the other heads levelling with me, all of the poised to strike at me while I was on their fellow head. Seeing an opportunity, I lifted my sword before jumping on another nearby head, slashing at it then leaping towards another. I continued doing this, slowly chipping away at all of their healthbars. I never stayed long enough on one head for the rest to hit me as they tried to shower me with flames.

Asuna and Hiyoto were close by, dealing with their own share of thirty heads. Asuna ran up Ladon body, stabbing and slashing at anything and everything. Hiyoto would take advantage of this distraction to hack viciously at unsuspecting heads with his two daggers, who were too focused with attack Asuna. Asuna, being the most agile player in the game, adeptly dodged all of the attacks the heads were trying deliver, even when her part of the garden was essentially a bullet hell of fireballs.

Itu and Ilda who were closer still, stood back to back, using their mid-ranged weapons to deal with all the melee heads before they could reach them. Together they were a whirlwind of destruction, their weapons rapidly connecting with the head of Ladon with devastating effect. The few heads that decided to spew long-ranged attacks had limited effect as their attacks would constantly collide with a fellow head rather than the players. Obviously, these attacks did nothing to the heads, but it still shielded the siblings.

My heart was racing, my sword-arm tiring as I killed twelve of the fifteen heads that decided to confront me. As I leapt to another of the head, it jerked away, causing me to fall onto the ground. Face first. I groaned, pain shooting up my face before I decided to roll towards the side as a preemptive just in case the dragon heads decided to attack while I was down. As soon as I rolled, a sudden thud and virtual dirt rained on my face. Apparently, my instinct saved me from being roasted alive. I rolled away once more before getting up on my feet. The last three heads stared me down, hissing and flicking their tongues at me. I glared right back at them as I readied my sword. Holding my sword behind my back in reverse grip, I activated a sword skill. My sword gleamed dull green as I ran straight at the last three heads. My sword sliced straight through one of the heads before I flipped my sword back into a normal grip, slashing another head with that movement. While the heads were turning to face me, I launched into a complex combo of slices, thrusts and grip-reversing, attacking all three heads at once before the AI could react. Soon, all three heads fell to my sword, dissipating into pixels as their health hit zero. I sighed in relief as I allowed my sword-arm to droop, the tip of my Elucidator touching the grass. I looked on to see Yuuki doing the same thing, watching closely at Itu and Ilda who were the only ones left fighting the remaining twelve heads of Ladon. The two were bravely fighting, twirling their weapons like madmen as they attacked like demons. The heads hissed and snapped at them, darting out of way just before either of the siblings could hit them.

"Almost done." Yuuki said, popping up right next to me. I nodded, watching as Itu and Ilda slew another head. It screamed in dramatic agony before thrashing on the ground, breaking up into multi-coloured pixels soon after. "We probably should help them." Yuuki added, holding her sword up. "Plus, I'm gonna try a new skill I just recently got. It's called Skyward Sword or something." Yuuki threw her sword like a boomerang, before bending her knees. Her sword, Absolute Obsidian flashed yellow while soaring towards a nearby dragon head, quickly spinning faster until it was just a wheel of deadly energy. Yuuki started to run after the blade before jumping up as the wheel of yellow energy collided with the dragon head. It smashed into the head before ricocheting back the way it came from. Yuuki met its course mid-air and grabbed the sword, miraculously flying straight at the dragon head and delivering a devastating blow at the head. The head disintegrated upon being hit. Yuuki landed on the ground with her sword pointing straight down, embedding the earth with her blade. While Yuuki had executed her awesome skill, Asuna and Hiyoto snuck up behind the other dragon heads and took them down, delivering short but powerful skills. Ladon finally perished as Itu pierced the last dragon head in the eye, lowering its health to zero. The head roared indignantly before glowing a brilliant white along with its body. Shortly afterwards it crumbled into pixels that were blown away in the wind.

"We won!" Hiyoto shouted triumphantly, walking tiredly towards us.

"Yuuki, that skill was awesome! How come I don't have that skill?" I asked.

"It's a high agility requirement skill. Since my agility is higher than yours, I obtained it. But I'm sure you have a strength-unique skill." Yuuki explained.

A message suddenly sprouted in front of us.

* * *

Congratulations quest members!

You have defeated the mythical boss monster Ladon, Guardian of the Golden Apples!

Your rewards are:

6 x [Item] Golden Apples (Shared between quest members)

120 000 000 Col (Shared between quest members)

300 000 000 EXP (Shared between quest members)

* * *

"How exactly are the rewards shared between us? We're not party members and–" The sound of players levelling up interrupted Asuna's confusion. My level shot up to 77 and my Col balance restored itself to its former glory of six digits.

"What the heck? I don't remember your names and statuses to be on my hub." Ilda said.

"Join the club. Apparently, the game's decided to party us all together with no party leader." Yuuki pointed out.

"Anyone going to check what these golden apples do?" Itu asked, opening his menu wih the flick of his wrist.

"Show off." Ilda muttered. Itu ignored his older sister and navigated adeptly through his menu until he got the description of the golden apples on his menu. After a few seconds of reading, Itu whistled appreciatively.

"Wow, this is like, a SS-Class item. In fact, it's borderline OP." Itu was clearly impressed. Curious to see what kind of item would get Itu to say such a statement, the rest of the group opened their menu and got up the description for the golden apple.

* * *

Golden Apple

Type: Consumable, Single-Use

Effects:  
When eaten, the user will receive an additional health bar (100% of maximum health), increased defence (30% from current DEF), increased offense (20% from base ATK stat), increased speed (40% from base AGI stat), decreased skill cooldown time (halved cooldown), enhanced dexterity (30% from base DEX stat), cleanse all negative status effect (Overrides any preexisting conditions or effects), recover all health and apply regeneration effect (10% of max health every 10 seconds).

Effects will cease when the additional health bar reaches zero.

" _The Golden Apple was known in Greek Myths as the most irresistible object in the entire world. It is said to have caused the Trojan War. It is also said to be able to turn a mortal into an immortal with just one bite, and that the apple would be the most delicious thing in the world. It can only be picked from the Golden Apple Tree, a wedding gift from Gaea to Hera, which is located in the Garden of Hesperides, guarded by a ferocious, hundred headed dragon known as Ladon._ _"_

* * *

"It doesn't turn us into immortals." Hiyoto pouted in mock disappointment. Asuna smacked the back of his head, earning a whimper from the snow-haired boy and laughter from the rest of us.

"Yup, I agree with Itu. This 'item' if we can even call it that, is literally the most broken item in the whole game. If you're careful enough, you could essentially be immortal after eating the golden apple." I commented, slightly giddy at the thought of possessing such an overpowered item.

"If we're done admiring our new S times infinity class item, we need to go to the door and actually start our quest. I have a feeling that these apples will be more than necessary in this quest. I mean, the pre-quest boss was already tougher than anything we'd face before so who knows how hard the actual quest is." Yuuki said, closing her menu. Itu closed the description on his menu and moved towards the key he had obtained from Sheeptaur. He attempted to equip the item and surprisingly, it materialised in his hand.

The key itself was ornate. Its structure was bronze in colour but the handle of the key itself was red, with small sapphires decorating the rim. The six of us marched up to the door, which was situated on a small hill behind the Golden Apple Tree. On the way, we tried to collect more golden apples, only to find that it no longer was a solid object; our bodies just phased right through it. Slightly dismayed, we continued our trek up to the door where Itu dramatically inserted his key into the keyhole, before turning it clockwise. Golden writing appeared on the door as the door unlocked.

 _Enter now, heroes of this realm_

 _A curse has been inflicted to the king_

 _To start you must take rebellion's helm_

 _And see that a cure hath started making_

 _A new threat has risen_

 _A new campaign begun_

 _Go forth heroes and fulfil your destiny!_

A message popped in front of us.

* * *

Beware! Once you enter this quest, there is no returning until the quest is cleared.

Are you sure you have everything you need?

Proceed?

[Yes] [No]

* * *

All of us simultaneously tapped yes, knowing that we had already stocked up on all essential and needed items beforehand.

Soon after, the door opened, a white background stood before the doorway. Before any of us could react, we were sucked in. The door slammed behind us as we plummeted downwards towards our quest.

* * *

 **AN: That's part one of this chapter done. For the next few chapters, we're going to what this 'new campaign' and 'new threat' is. Once again, sorry for the long delay between the last and this one, I have no valid excuses for you guys. Please forgive me?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'd appreciate if you review and give me feedback so that I can improve the quality of my chapters and I'll see you soon for another chapter of The Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you all!**

 **~Herosassin**


	12. Chapter 12: Of Gods, Monsters and Men

**AN: Hi. I know, no excuses. I said the end of March and now its mid-April. All I have to say is that I ran into unexpected problems. Also, I had to rewrite the storyline for future chapters since I didn't like how it played out. Especially how I was going to make it go to Floor 100.**

 **Anyway, I'm so sorry. Please don't throw pitchforks at me. *Squeaks when he sees flaming pitchforks arcing his way.***

 **Answering reviews:**

 **ENDDRAGON369:** _Will more Fate stuff appear during the quest."_

 **A: Probably not. Unless I can find some other inspirations.**

 **RedSS:** _Well, for a long while I searched for a KiritoxYuuki fanfic on Aincrad. Glad not only I found one, but also is a very good one. Keep going, lad, this is great."_

 **A: Glad to hear that! I hope you continue to enjoy my fanfic!**

 **RedBurningDragon:** _O yea just thought of this but if Yuuki and Kirito stay a duo and Kirito doesn't have a reason to fight Heathclif he wouldn't figure his Kyaba so we can go to floor 100 without the reason that Hollow frag gave._ _O we going to fight that fluffy xenomorph._ _So "group up and hit it till it died"._ _Well time to kill a god or Titan"_

 **A: I'll look into your suggestion. Thanks tho. And yeah, the hollow frag reason was really... weird.**

 **InfiniteAJ:** _""My sword had been knocked out of my hand when Sheeptaur decided to go Ninjutzu on us Ninjago Reference? If so then beautiful. Again another great chapter, can't wait to see where you go with this original plot. I think the divergence from cannon will ne quite refreshing, so I'm excited about that. And I see you're also a fan of Greek Mythology. That makes two of us! Reading this, I now understand where Notch (Minecraft's creator) got the idea of Golden Apples from. And people say fanfiction can't be educational."_

 **A: Glad you got the reference. I'm also happy that you like the canon divergence, as you said, I feel like only sticking to canon can get a bit dull. I'm also glad you learnt something from my fanfic :)**

 **HaiWulffEx:** _"_ _Great chapter! I love that invisible tap trick and would totally use it myself if I could :P. I'm excited to see the mobs that are going to appear in the dungeon, though a small detail somewhat stuck out to me. If the pre-boss was already harder than anything they've fought before, I'm surprised they didn't use any items, which would be pretty normal when encountering a harder boss, esp. a new type that you don't expect. It's a small detail, but sort of popped out due to me playing so many games and always making sure to not run out of items lol. Since the lore behind the apple was Greek, does that mean that the dungeon is also Greek lore based :D? If so, then you could totally make Heracles a boss/mid-boss, esp the one from Fate (sorry, someone else mentioned Fate, and this was the first thing I thought of, and BASAKA WA SEKAI DE ICHIBAN TSUYOI), mainly cause he totally fits as a monster class, and he reminds me of the minotaur from the series, idk why, prolly the axe. Anyways, looking forward to the next chapter :3."_

 **A: Haha, yeah, the invisible tap trick is the best thing about Hiyoto's ability. I'll admit, the pre-boss was a bit of an oversight. The overarching theme for this quest will be Greek but no Fate Heracles. I wanted a more original Heracles so sorry :(.**

 **Krawling Khaos:** _"_ _I enjoy where the story is going. It's a little rough around the edges in places (i.e. there are some spots where grammar and spell checking missed their mark a little in every chapter), and some of the dialogue in earlier chapters isn't as sharp as it could be (namely Kirito and Yuuki's whole "he's handsome" "you're cuter and more beautiful" lines... those were hamming it up a bit too much), but I still enjoy it._

 _It's nice to see Yuuki being used in a context without the whole "AIDS-chan" thing going on, since I still feel like her death in Mother's Rosario was a little heavy handed, even for Kawahara. Seeing her being as good at the game, if not better than Kirito at it (depends purely on a subjective measure of "power" and all) isn't all that surprising, and it's fun to see what happens from chapter to chapter._

 _Seeing Yuuki develop «Mother's Rosario» (which I'll admit could have been done a little better, but it's not a bad thing) was nice, though I don't know if it'd be considered a «Unique Skill» in the same manner that, say, «Dual Blades» is. I think you have some room to develop an actual «Unique Skill» that follows the same logic as «Dual Blades», wherein it is more of a skill tree, rather than just one skill. Heck, I think Yuuki gaining a «Unique Skill» named «Absolute Sword» would've been a great idea, but that's not really important for the enjoyment of the story in my mind._

 _One final note I'd like to hit on is the missed potential of having Aiko/Ran in the story too, though should you do an ALO-type story based around the idea of Ran and Leafa being friends, with Kirito and Yuuki going into the game to save Asuna, it'd be an interesting turn of events. Predictable, sure, but interesting._

 _I'll end on me saying that most, if not all of what I said here is coming from my time writing fanfiction, and seeing the potential for plot points in places I'd likely have put them had I been in your situation, and is not necessarily a full on criticism of your skills. The story has plenty of potential as it is, and I am genuinely interested in seeing where it goes. The only thing I'd recommend is maybe tightening up your editing, to catch little spelling/grammatical errors before posting chapters. Perhaps finding a beta reader would help in this regard, but don't feel pressured to do so, the story is good regardless, and it's just for the sake of making it shine a little more."_

 **A: Thanks for the feedback. I'll admit, I tried to accelerate things too much at the start and when I have the time, I'll try and fix it. As for the unique skills things, I totally 100% agree. I have a few skills and skill trees in mind. As for Ran/Aiko, I sort of had a regret somewhere in Chapter 8 or 9 where I was like, "I could've used Aiko here. Dammit!". Oh well. Once again, thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it! Perhaps I'll find a beta soon.**

 **mauk10:** _hello this is mauk I liked the incorporation of greek myths and follow the mythos closely with the golden apple tree it was actually a gift from hera to zuess though I am not meaning to take anything away from the awesome story you have written so far but I thought you should know and yes I know there is a lot of discord about the myth and some people say the earth goddess gaea gave it as a wedding present. it might just be erises influence on the world. keep up the good work by the way 120,000,000 divided into 6 is 20,000,000 right digit number kirito saw his col ride back to six digits I enjoy your work please keep writing"_

 **A: Thanks, glad you like my incorporation of Greek Mythology. As for the digits, yeah... thanks for pointing that out. I have no idea how I managed to miscount and misdivide but hehe... you caught it! Thanks!**

 **Note: I WILL NOT abandon this story no matter what. It might get updated less regularly but you can hold onto the hope that it will never be abandoned.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **Me: "Yes, I finally own SAO."**

 **Kawahawa's Lawyers: "Ahem." *Holds up a file of papers***

 **Me: "Um... I mean.. Reki Kawahawa still owns Sword Art Online."**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Of Gods, Monsters and Men**

* * *

 **Itu's POV**

Falling down a pit hole is not fun.

Especially one that simply consists of the colour white. Nothing else. In fact, if it weren't for the wind ferociously howling in my ear and the sensation of air rushing up towards me, I would've questioned if we were moving at all.

Yuuki was taking things in stride, holding Kirito's hand while challenging him to several rounds of rock-paper-scissors. Kirito was losing miserably each time. The both of them were laughing after each round. They were acting as if falling down an all-white emptiness was nothing but a boring car trip. If it weren't for their constant insistence that they were only best friends, I would've suspected that they were siblings like Ilda and I or the perfect couple.

Asuna was calmly talking with Hiyoto as if they were just chilling, not falling for eternity in this pit hole or anything. Though I couldn't actually hear what they were talking about. But with the wild hand gestures coming from Hiyoto, I could only assume it had something to do with combat.

Ilda was the only one who looked remotely scared but the only reason I noticed was because I had lived with her all my life. Her exterior appearance gave off an aura of calmness and cool but peer into her eyes for long enough and you could see that they were restless, giving off mild fear. Ilda's claustrophobia must be acting up again. I wouldn't blame her either. The pure white emptiness which encompassed this pit hole was probably a living nightmare for claustrophobic people. I quickly grasped my sister's hand, giving her a reassuring smile. She gave me a thankful look and the fear in her eyes lessened significantly.

"Impact! Brace yourselves!" Kirito yelled over the howling air. I looked down to see what looked like a hard, veiny marble floor getting closer and closer towards us. Ilda gave a huge sigh of relief, though an ill-timed one since we were about to experience a new world of hurt. Within the next second, I found myself lying spread-eagled on the freezing cold marble floor, my body wracked in pain. While my healthbar didn't take any physical damage, the impact was big enough to cause pain, since pain wasn't solely decided on the healthbar. I moaned in agony, waiting a few seconds for the pain to subside before pushing myself off the ground, grabbing my weapon which had fallen beside me.

Kirito was already up, brushing his scarcely armoured coat with his hand. Yuuki was crouched next to Kirito, as if she had landed on her two feet. Hiyoto was helping Asuna onto her feet, pulling her up. Even my sister had landed in a more dignified style than me. She had managed to maintain hold of her scythe, using its blade to scrape the massive white, marble columns that supported the area we currently were in, slowing her descent significantly enough to allow a painless landing. In fact, I think I'm the only one who had landed spread-eagled.

"Nice landing Itu." Ilda teased, rubbing in my bad landing as if she knew what I was thinking about. I responded with a glare, leaning my weight towards my Guandao. I waited for the pain in my legs to numb before I started walking to join the rest of my friends who were gathered. A small window display popped up in front of me, interrupting my approach.

* * *

Quest: Of Gods, Monsters and Men

\- - o - - - - - o - - - - - o - - - - - - - - 0

Progress: 0%

Status: In Progress

Rewards:

1 x Labyrinth Door Key

6 x Scroll of Weapon Techniques

? x ?!#

? x ?!#

* * *

Closing the window, I attempted to continue my original intent until another window popped up, interrupting me yet again.

* * *

Mission: Waiting for Royalty

Familiarise yourself with the castle while waiting for the king to receive you.

Reward:

Nothing. This is the easiest task in the world. Do you really expect a reward?

* * *

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around the room. The room, if we can really call it that, consisted of sandstone-coloured marble with sapphire blue veins that were smoothly covering the floor while giant, meticulously chiselled, white marble columns supported the ceiling. It looked like we were in some sort of atrium, a reception room. Sculptures, friezes and tapestries were hanging on the walls, depicting a warrior king accomplishing different feats such as slaying a dragon thrice his size or fighting an army with the help of only three people. There were two ornate glass doors standing at opposite ends of each other. The glass was stained green, a brilliant emerald green, blurring what was behind the doors. The glass door nearest to us opened and a squire dressed in golden armour walked into the reception room.

"The king will see you now." He announced with a loud and firm voice. He gave a short bow before walking gracefully out of the room, leaving the door open. The six of us followed the squire and walked through the door. Behind the door was a circular throne room where an excessively golden and uncomfortable-looking throne sat in near the back, surrounded by armed guards. Lavish cushions piled the throne, making the notion of sitting on the golden throne more comfortable.

Sitting on the golden throne was a man dressed in royal, purple robes and holding a sceptre. The sceptre consisted of a golden rod, with a spherical, glass-like material at one end of the rod. Within the glass-like material, glowing lights swam like fish, different colours swirling around the sphere at different speeds. Jutting out of the sphere was a sharp, crimson diamond which would regularly flash ominously. The king himself had traces of youth in his face and his eyes were kind and understanding. The NPC standing before us felt like a human rather than a scripted piece of code. A soft ping was heard before another window appeared.

* * *

Mission: Waiting for Royalty

Completed!

* * *

The window faded after a few seconds before reappearing with completely different text.

* * *

Mission: The Request

Ask for the key to the Labyrinth Doors.

Bonus:

Word the request as follows:

"Milord, we seek for you to break the lock sealing access to the realms beyond."

Reward:

Nothing. I'm literally asking you to ask for something basic. Heck, I've even told you what you should say.

Bonus:

2 x Speed Potion (One minute) You totally don't deserve this but…I've noticed your agility is not up to scratch.

* * *

Whoever wrote the quest text was really sarcastic. And a touch spiteful. The window then minimized itself and took form as a glowing red question mark located on the left-hand side of my vision.

"What do you want?" The king's voice echoed across the throne room.

Wanting the bonus speed potions, I quoted the quest's wording of the request.

"Milord, we seek for you to break the lock sealing access to the realms beyond." I stated confidently, looking at the NPC. While the king was 'considering' my request by repeatedly stroking his beard, I decided to take a closer look at the king. I squinted, activating my 'Analyse' ability, a standard skill which everyone had. This allowed me to see the level, health, stats, alliance and name of anything. Details started to spill onto my vision. On top of the king was a grey cursor, signifying that the king was neutral, meaning that he would not attack unless provoked. His name was hovering on top of the cursor. King Cadmus, Ruler of Olympia. The king opened his mouth to speak.

"Sure I–" The king was suddenly cut off. The air around him shimmered ever so slightly. The king pixelated for a moment, moving chaotically in a glitch-like fashion, as if the game had encountered a glitch and didn't know how to broadcast the NPC's actions. The sound of someone letting out a sigh filled the throne room as the NPC solidified again with some subtle changes. His eyes were no longer kind and understanding, instead they were ragged and glowing with malicious intent. Not only that, but his cursor turned bright red, signifying that he was a hostile being.

"No. I will not grant you this request." The king paused, allowing for the shock of the obviously foreseen response to sink in. Though it would've been funny and anti-climactic if the king granted our request. Not that I was complaining if that were the case. Which should've happened had this creepy glitching thing not occurred.

"Why would I open the gateway to kingdoms that would destroy me? _They_ would find me and cast me out again. No, I will be safe here and you will die for your meddling!" The king snapped his fingers before pointing at us. "Shadow Guards, kill these fools!"

At once, the guards around the king mobilised, stepping out of the shadows and allowing us to get a closer look at them. The guards themselves were wearing smooth-plated black armour with black helmets that only allowed for small eye-slits for vision. The helmets themselves were like smooth, curved faceplates which gave them a cool but intimidating look. Each guard had a different weapon, ranging from bladed nunchucks and deadly sharp katanas to fearsome chained kunai. All of which were coloured in the Shadow Guard's favourite colour. You guessed it, black with a slight tinge of red. In total there were twelve guards, each menacingly brandishing (or twirling for the case of the chained kunai guard) their weapon as they cautiously circled around us.

Looking above their heads, I could see their basic information such as their healthbar, name, level and difficulty. They had full health (duh), their name was 'Shadow Guard' (again, duh), their level was 76 and there was a small, blood red diamond-prism floating above their heads, symbolising that they were a 'hard difficulty' mob for our level.

There was a soft ping and a small popup window replaced the current mission window.

* * *

Mission: The Request

Completed!

Reward:

2 x Speed Potion (One minute)

* * *

A new set of text replaced the former.

* * *

Mission: Fighting Shadows

Defeat all twelve of Cadmus' Shadow Guards.

Currently: 0/12

Reward:

1 x [Armour] Shadow Cloak

1 x [Weapon] Nightreaver

4 x [Material] Shadow Essentia

* * *

"These guys seem tough." Kirito called out, drawing his sword and holding it out in front of him. I quickly dismissed the mission screen. The guards edged forwards before splitting off in pairs to confront each one of us. The guards who decided to confront me wielded a chained kunai and a two-bladed glaive. Without waiting for the guards to have a chance to attack me, I surged forward, impaling the blade of my Guandao into the chest of the Shadow Guard wielding the chained kunai, reasoning that it would be a greater threat to me than the glaive-wielding guard. Activating a skill, I tossed the guard up into the air using my Guandao as a lever. With the system guiding me, I jumped up into the air to meet the guard, who was still stunned by my initial strike and did a full 360-degrees swing with my weapon, catching the guard mid-air with the blade and sending him flying towards a nearby wall.

I landed on the ground as the second guard charged at me. I blocked a heavy swing from the guard, holding my Guandao in a way so that the stick clashed against the glaive with my hands on either side of the glaive blade. The guard pushed with all its might, forcing me to respond in kind until it became an all-out strength competition. That was when the guard pivoted his glaive upwards, lifting my Guandao upwards and striking me with the other end of the glaive. I hissed in pain as the blade slashed right up my chest before being sent flying backwards by a powerful kick.

Glancing at my healthbar, I could see that while I had lost a decent amount of health from the Shadow Guard's assault, I was still in the green area. I got up just in time to block an incoming swipe from the glaive-wielding Shadow Guard, who pressed its attack against me, swinging its glaive in deadly and quick arcs that never gave me enough time to exploit any opening. Blocking blow after blow, I managed to land a kick on the guard, forcing it back and buying enough time for me to counterattack.

I adeptly flicked my wrist, activating another weapon skill. The blade of my Guandao illuminated a soft orange glow before I thrusted it into the guard's head, lowering its health by a significant amount. After piercing its head, I quickly lifted my Guandao so that the guard would be sent flying up into the air. As it started to fall, I rapidly slashed at it, creating a crisscross pattern on the body of the guard before delivering a final, earth-shattering strike to the midsection, cleaving the guard into two. The guard's form flickered erratically as its healthbar dropped to zero, before it exploded into pixels. I turned to find my other opponent only to find a kunai buried in my right thigh, causing me to grit my teeth in pain. Before I could find my assailant, I was sent flying into a wall, resulting in me losing my grip on my weapon. I slowly got up, to see the guard wielding the chained kunai standing a meter away from me, spinning the chain in an almost hypnotic fashion.

I sidestepped to the right as the guard was about to throw its kunai at me, narrowly missing the kunai which slammed into the space where I was previously, lodged in the wall. As the guard was struggling to pull out the kunai, I took the chance to run at the guard, grabbing my fallen Guandao and activating another skill. This time, my Guandao emitted a bright yellow light. When I arrived at the guard, I swiped at its legs with the butt of my weapon before using the blade to deliver another slash at the chest, followed by a thrust. This quickly depleted the guard's healthbar, resulting in it dissolving into pixels while still impaled with my Guandao.

 **Kirito's POV**

When the guards had split off to confront us, I stood back to back with Yuuki, ready to fight them with her as my partner. The two guards who approached me were wielding a duo of wickedly sharp daggers and two swords. The ones that approached Yuuki held an elegant black katana while the other one held a shield and pike.

"Who should we take down first?" I asked.

"Let's take the guy with the daggers first, he looks too much like Hiyoto." Yuuki responded.

"Hey, I heard that! I look nothing like these futuristic sparring dummies!" Hiyoto indignantly responded as he fought off two guards, one wielding a spear and another wielding a twohanded great-sword.

Grinning at Hiyoto's insult towards the Shadow Guards, I lunged at the one wielding the daggers while Yuuki gracefully fended off the other three guards. I started with an overhead strike, expecting the guard to block it with its daggers. Instead of blocking, the guard merely sidestepped, allowing it to immediately counterattack. I managed to duck, resulting in the daggers aimed at my head to slice at thin air. I activated a sword skill and slashed upwards towards the guard's exposed body. My blade which illuminated with the colour sky blue, colliding with the guard and leaving a nasty wound beginning from its waist all the way towards the shoulder. The guard staggered, momentarily stunned which gave Yuuki enough time to blindside it, delivering a devastatingly fast combo of slashes and stabs that quickly took down the guard. As it shattered into pixels, a pair of swords slashed at Yuuki's back, drawing a cry of pain from Yuuki.

"Yuuki!" I yelled, cursing myself for not noticing earlier. Yuuki had fallen to the ground due to the sheet force of the two swords colliding with her back. She was getting up, but the guard was standing over her, ready to finish her off. I quickly rummaged through my coat pocket, trying to find a spare kunai I could throw. My hands quickly closed in on one and I threw the kunai straight at the guard with one smooth motion. The kunai transfixed itself on the guard's arm, sending it staggering backwards. I helped Yuuki on her feet before standing back to back once more as the remaining three guards circled us.

"I'll take the duel-wielding one while you take the katana one. Deal?" Yuuki offered, eying her selected guard distastefully.

"Revenge?" I asked, trying to guess her motives.

"Yup. That strike really hurt." Yuuki said cheerfully before running at her chosen opponent. I sidestepped an oncoming jab from the guard with the pike before engaging the one wielding the katana. I immediately opened with bunch of sword skills, all of which were blocked. Upping my game, I activated Phantasmal Shift which made my sword fade into an almost invisible state. I aimed another overhead strike which the AI tried to block, only to find that the blade phased right through its block attempt and hit it straight on the head. The guard stumbled backwards, before going on the offensive, lashing out at me with its katana.

Spurred by the sudden aggressiveness of the guard, I promptly forgot that I still had Phantasmal Shift activated and tried to block the oncoming attacks. Like how my attacks phased through the guard's katana, the guard's katana phased through my blade, allowing for the blows to strike me, causing a massive dip in my healthbar. Unable to do anything except attack, I traded blows with the guard, creating just as many wounds and gashes to the guard as it did to me. My sword finally re-entered its corporeal form just as my sword was an inch away from the guard. We both were inside each other's guard and one more blow would decide who lives and who dies.

Tapping my thumb on my sword hand against the blade's grip, I activated a sword skill known as Agility Slash which allowed me to beat the guard in striking first. Agility Slash was a single, heavy sword slash that moved extremely quickly. By assigning an easily executable gesture to it, it allowed for many versatile uses, including activating it at the last second to deliver a life-saving strike or to disrupt another's skill execution. My glowing green sword collided with the guard's chest, dropping its healthbar to zero. The guard's katana went through my body as the guard itself started to glow before exploding into pixels.

"Kirito, watch out!" Yuuki called out as she fought with her opponent. I turned around to see a pike heading towards me. Before I could even move, a purple sword intercepted the pike, deflecting it so that it harmlessly speared next to me. I stared in amazement and shock at how close I was to dying. "I think you need to heal dummy." Yuuki's cheerful voice broke me out of my shock. I immediately followed Yuuki's suggestion, grabbing a health potion and drinking it. Gagging at the bitter taste, I felt rejuvenated and my body stopped hurting. I stared at the guard who almost killed me, raising my sword to fight it.

I decided to play defensive, evading all of the guard's attacks and waiting for an opening. Sadly, the guard seemed to be a little too good at playing defensively and beat me in my own game. I could not find any tangible openings in which I could use to damage it. In my defence – pardon the pun –, the guard had a massive black shield that literally covered half its body. I danced around its attacks, waiting for an opening when Yuuki appeared next to me.

"Finally took down that duel-wielding swordsman. He was really tough." Yuuki commented. "So, how do we take down this guy?"

"Someone keeps him occupied at the front while the other sneaks behind him and attacks him." I advised, sidestepping a jab.

"Ok, I'm gonna backstab him then!" Yuuki said before running around the guard. The guard momentarily turned to Yuuki before snapping back to face me as I charged at it. I started to activate every sword skill I had, wasting them on the guard's shield. The guard simply crouched behind its shield, absorbing every strike, slash, jab and stab I unleashed at it. This allowed Yuuki to sneak behind it and activate her own skill, Mother's Rosario. Though I couldn't really see much, I could see violent streaks of purple flash behind the guard. The guard stood no chance against Yuuki, its healthbar dropping rapidly until it no longer had one. It dropped its shield and collapsed onto the ground before shattering into pixels. The two of us watched the guard disintegrate before high fiving each other.

"Phew. Nice teamwork huh?" I said to Yuuki who was busy drinking a health potion. Yuuki stuck her tongue out in a gagging motion, probably from the bitter taste of the health potion.

"Ugh, what does Kayaba put in these potions. It's like he purposely made health potions suck to discourage its use." Yuuki made another gagging face before she finished the rest of her potion, restoring her to full health while I laughed at her complaints. "But to answer your question, it was pretty good teamwork. We both saved each other from dying, and took out four extremely tough and annoying guards together."

The two of us watched as Hiyoto and Asuna quickly dispatched their opponents, who wielded an assortment of scythes, spears, nunchucks and bare fists? That's right, there literally was a guard who tried to fight Asuna with their bare hands. But you know what they say, never bring a fist to a sword fight. Or something like that, I forget the exact saying. In other words, Asuna was completely and utterly demolishing the guard. The poor guard couldn't even land a single blow before it shattered into pixels, like all of its fellow and now former guards.

Ilda wasn't even trying to fight the guards at all. She casually ducked and weaved her opponents' attacks, hacking or impaling a guard when a window of opportunity appeared. Ilda continued her graceful yet deadly dance for a few minutes, ending it when she accidentally misinterpreted a feint by one of the guards wielding sais as an attack telegraph. That lead to her sidestepping right into the real attack, leaving her with four new stab wounds on her stomach and a red healthbar. Ilda grunted in pain and stumbled backwards, holding her scythe in a defensive position as she looked at her opponents, fear dancing around in her eyes.

The two guards, one with sais and the other with a rapier, stood side by side as they approached Ilda, ready to finish her off. Ilda stood her ground, shifting her stance so that her right hand was gripping the scythe in the same manner as you would hold a boomerang or frisbee when trying to throw it. Ilda drew her right arm back before flicking it, throwing her scythe at the two guards. The throw, by amazing calculations or sheer dumb luck, managed to hit the two guards with the bladed edge simultaneously, killing both of them.

A message popped up in front of me.

* * *

Mission: Fighting Shadows

Completed!

Rewards:

1 x [Armour] Shadow Cloak {Hiyoto}

1 x [Weapon] Nightreaver {Asuna}

4 x [Material] Shadow Essentia {Yuuki, Kirito, Ilda, Itu}

* * *

Another window soon replaced it.

* * *

Mission: Oh Gods No!

Error 304! Something seems to have gone wrong with your request. I wonder what happened?

Survive Cadmus' *cough cough Ares' cough cough* attack.

Reward:

You don't die. Surely that's reward enough?

* * *

Snorting at the sarcastic tone of the mission, I dismissed the window, worried about what would happen next. Ilda gave a sigh of relief as her scythe clattered on the ground as her younger brother hurried to her side, giving her a health potion to drink. As soon as everybody's health went back to green, we were seized by an invisible force.

"So, you _do_ have enough power to take out my Shadow Guards. Impressive, I give you that much. But I won't let you stop my conquest for chaos. This…vessel shall be the tool for my chaos. And so…it's time for you to _die,_ meddlers." The king had risen from his throne, holding up his hand like he was using the force on us. He started to repeatedly toss his hand side to side, smashing us into the adjacent walls of the throne room. My vision dimmed, and I started to see stars as I was smashed over and over again by the possessed king. My healthbar moved at a sluggish pace, slowly being chipped at with each collision against the wall. After a while, the king stopped, holding his hand still.

"Still not dead? You truly are powerful heroes. But, you will never be able to fight against me, Ares, god of war, chaos and destruction!" The king, now Ares declared. He moved his hand to make us float back in the middle of the room. "Prepare to die, mortals."

Ares casually waved his sceptre in the air, causing ghostly red swords to appear in front of him, all pointing in our direction. Ares smirked before tilting his sceptre so that the tip was pointing towards us. The swords immediately flew towards us, piercing our bodies and draining our healthbars at a much quicker rate. I gritted in pain as I watched green turn to yellow, and yellow turn to red. At red, my vision received a red tint and a high-pitched beep started to sound repeatedly.

"Here comes the prince of ex-machinas to save the day!" A voice sang out. Suddenly, a dagger embedded itself onto Ares' hand, causing him to drop the sceptre. Ares roared in pain and clutched his sceptre hand with his other hand. Immediately, the swords winked out of existence and the invisible force holding us hostage disappeared, causing us to plummet towards the floor.

"Hey, get up and follow me. I can only incapacitate Ares for a minute or so." A scrawny blonde-haired boy whispered harshly, pointing towards the exit. All of us scrambled onto our feet and followed the fleeting boy through the exit. Yet another ping sounded, and the mission window appeared again.

* * *

Mission: Oh Gods No!

Completed!

Rewards:

You're alive! Right?

* * *

The display updated itself.

* * *

Mission: Run Like The Wind!

Follow the mysterious boy.

Reward:

You progress in this quest. Simple.

* * *

Again with the sarcastic tone! Dismissing the window, I started to run after the boy.

"How is he, _huff_ so Kayaba-damned _huff_ fast?" Itu panted, slowly falling behind the blonde's quick pace.

"You already answered the question." I responded cheekily.

"What do you mean?" Itu questioned. I gave Itu a look that said _really?_

"Oh…But still! How are Yuuki and Asuna…Is Asuna running ahead of that boy? This is impossible!" Itu complained.

"Less talk and more running!" Ilda chided, before emphasising her point by running ahead of us to catch up with Yuuki and the rest of the girls.

"How do they do it?" Hiyoto asked exasperatedly, watching as the boy and three girls left us eating their dust. For the next few minutes, we chased after the boy, dodging guards, traps, doors and pillars as we quickly navigated through the castle. The castle itself seemed a little bland, with a heavily recurring theme of golden coloured features and white walls, pillars and marble columns.

Reaching the castle courtyard made our little impromptu sprint-marathon-race a little more interesting. By that I mean a whole lot worse. At the far end of the two hundred or so metres of courtyard stood a massive metal gate that was slowly closing. And did I mention that the rest of the group was only 50 metres away from it while we were four times the distance away?

"Crap, we're never going to make it. The gate's closing way too fast." I cursed silently and tried to run even faster.

"Thanks, its not like I noticed." Hiyoto sarcastically replied. In a sudden burst of speed, he managed to close the gap between him and the girls.

"Welp, he's gone. Just the two of us now." Itu said dryly.

"I honestly regret not listening to Yuuki when she went on about how AGI was one of the most important stats in the game." I confessed as I saw the gate draw nearer to each other.

"Here Kirito, catch!"

Itu tossed me a yellow vial. I caught it and stared at it, wondering what exactly it was.

"Drink it."

"I'm sorry but my mother always taught me not to drink neon yellow vials that someone, even if it was my friend, gave it to me." I responded. Itu gave an amused smile.

"It's a speed potion. That should allow us to make it through the gate before it closes." Itu explained before popping the lid off the vial and drinking the neon liquid. Suddenly, Itu shot forward with a burst of speed, quickly catching up to the girls. I followed Itu's example, taking the lid of the vial before dumping its contents into my mouth.

Immediately, I began to run much faster, watching as the scenery started to blur. The gates were almost closed now with barely any space in between them and I was fifty metres away. Forty metres. Thirty metres. Twenty metres. Ten. At ten metres, the space between the gates was just wide enough for me to squeeze through. But that gap was shrinking at an alarming rate. Five metres, four metres, three metres, two….one.

 **Yuuki's POV**

Honestly, I was glad that my chosen fighting style was a combination of both agility and power. I wasn't a full-blown agility class fighter like Asuna, nor was I a full-blown powerful, heavy hitting attacker like Kirito. I was more in between, using agility to wear down opponents and to attack fiercely while delivering powerful strikes at my foe when my speedy and aggressive assault created gaps in their guard. And right now, my agility was the one thing that allowed me to keep up with the young, blonde-haired boy leading us to our escape. Somehow, Asuna managed to outrun the boy, constantly slowing down to let the boy take the lead before running behind him, following him until she accidentally overtakes him again.

The boy led us out of the closing gates into the forest where he stopped, waiting for the others. Ilda, followed by Hiyoto came, both of them panting, resting their hands on their knees. I watched as the gates of the castle were closing, worried about the last two members of our party. Just a split second before the gates closed, a blurred figure sped straight towards us, crashing straight into a tree.

"Ow. That hurt." The familiar voice of Itu complained as the figure got up and rubbed at his head in pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw another blurred object speed past us but I thought nothing about it. _"It probably was just a glitch or something."_ I thought, turning my attention to Itu.

"Where's Kirito?" I asked him, slightly anxious for my best friend. He hadn't appeared with Itu and definitely was not with us.

"He..huff…was right behind me. Isn't he here as well?" Itu responded as his sister Ilda patted him down to make sure he was ok. I shook my head in response. "Well, um…he's still stuck inside?" Itu suggested insensitively, earning a hard smack to the back of his head by his sister. "I mean, he should be fine right?"

"So, you're telling me that Kirito," I said calmly, pointing towards the now closed gate, "is trapped inside the castle with a murderous god-complex NPC and _you_ think that my best friend will be ok?"

Itu, Ilda, Asuna and Hiyoto slowly backed off, Itu's hands were in the air in a gesture of surrender.

"Technically its not a god-complex NPC, it _is_ a NPC god." Hiyoto corrected, almost completely oblivious to my anger.

"Shut up." Asuna hissed, elbowing him hard in his ribs. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

"You're right. I'm sure Kayaba wouldn't have created such an unfair quest. He probably is safer in there than out here." I admitted, hoping that I was right. But as life goes, Kirito's healthbar started to drop at an alarming rate.

"Dammit, I jinxed it didn't I?" I growled in frustration.

"As much as I would like to worry about Kirito, we need to worry about ourselves now. We have incoming monster hordes and not enough people to deal with them!"

" _Monster hordes? That's not good."_ That thought went through my head as I dew my sword and prepared for battle. A small notice popped up in the middle of my screen.

* * *

Quest: Of Gods, Monsters and Men

 **\- - x - - -** \- - o - - - - - o - - - - - - - - 0

Progress: 24%

Status: In Progress

Rewards:

1 x Labyrinth Door Key

6 x Scroll of Weapon Techniques

? x ?!#

? x ?!#

* * *

The text of the notice changed after a few seconds to reveal another notice:

* * *

Mission: Ambush at Night

Fend off the oncoming monster hordes for 6 minutes.

Reward:

Why do you always demand a reward?

* * *

"Wow, Kayaba must've had a bad day when he was writing the text details for this quest." Ilda commented with an amused tone. A small stopwatch display appeared on the right-hand side of m vision, slowly counting down from six minutes. As soon as the stopwatch hit 5:45, a massive warband of cyclops wielding hammers appeared, charging straight at us.

"Here they come!" Itu warned as he stabbed at the vanguard of the cyclops horde, killing them with relative ease. A huge roar echoed from the forest. I gripped my weapon tightly and prepared for all hell to be unleashed.

But it never came.

I nervously fiddled with the hilt of my sword as I awaited the next wave of mythological monsters to come charging out of the forests. I could hear the faint sounds of monsters wailing in the distance followed by the sounds of disintegrating mobs, but I couldn't see anything.

"Um…Is the quest bugged? Or are the monsters invisible and an invisible defender is helping us fend them off?" Hiyoto asked cautiously, twirling his dagger in a nervous fashion.

"Don't jinx it!" Asuna hissed, roughly jabbing her elbow at his midsection.

"Ow, sorry!" Hiyoto quickly apologised, rubbing his midsection as he did so. I slowly inched forwards towards the edges of the forest, curious to see where the monsters were. The rest of the group followed suit, walking in a tight, arrowhead formation with Asuna and Ilda at the rear. We slowly waded through the thick forest towards the sound of metal bashing each other. Finally, we got through the thick shrubbery, where a few metres in front of us, was a black-clothed figure fighting with several armoured giants, weaving swiftly around the giant metal swords that were being swung at his direction. Thud. Thud. Thud. The ground shook at the impact of each giant metal blade as the two-metre-tall pillars of steel implanted themselves in the ground in attempt to hit the figure. I squinted at the figure, trying make out his face from the darkness.

"I think that's Kirito! No need to sulk about your _best friend_ anymore." Asuna whispered to me as I continued watching the black swordsman duel three giants who were armed to the teeth with spiky armaments. With the grace of a dancer, Kirito waited for one of the giants to thrust his sword tip first into the ground in an attempt to spear him before nimbly running up the edge of the blade and decapitating the giant. The giant crumbled into many pieces of pixels as Kirito accelerated and leapt towards the two remaining giants who lumbered towards him. With blitzing speed, he quickly delivered a barrage of slashes, alternating between the two giants.

Slash. Thrust. Parry. Slash. Thrust.

His arm and by extension his sword was blur of technicolour strobe lights, dancing in between the giants, leaving fresh, glowing red gashes where each strobing sword stroke hit. After a brief but intense barrage of strikes, the giants fell, disintegrating into pixels. Like usual. But before any of us were able to congratulate Kirito, a crimson-red blade jutted out of his chest. I gave a small whimper as I tried to run to Kirito's side but was stopped by the hindering menace that was the shrubbery. I watched helplessly as Kirito's healthbar dropped to nothing, the tiny bar of red he had left disappearing. Kirito dropped to the floor, knees first as his body grew more transparent. He was mouthing some words but blinded by my tears, I couldn't see what he was saying.

A few more seconds and he shattered into a million pixels, never to be seen again. Screaming, I drew my sword and threw it at his assailant. My sword flew in a circular motion, striking the cyclops who murdered Kirito with the dagger. Asuna was trying to comfort me while Hiyoto, Itu and Ilda fought their entanglement to reach Kirito's place of demise. I was on the verge of bursting into tears when I saw something that stopped it. Before I could fully investigate, an alarm-like sound buzzed in my ear. Glancing up half-heartedly, I saw that the timer had expired which prompted another popup to appear.

* * *

Mission: Ambush at Night

Completed!

Reward:

[Progression] +1

* * *

I feebly swiped the notification away, paying no attention to it at all. Another popped up a second later.

* * *

InterMISSION: Back to Base Camp

Follow your guide back to the rebellion base for further instructions.

You'll find some shops for supplies. Trust me, you'll need them.

Reward:

None, I mean, it's not even a mission.

* * *

"Hey Yuuki? Are you all right?" Asuna softly asked, drawing my attention. I looked at her for one second before staring at the only piece of evidence I have that Kirito wasn't dead.

"Kirito's not dead."

"What do you mean?" Asuna questioned. "I know you're shocked that Kirito's dead; all of us are. But denying it won't do anything. We need to finish this quest and avenge Kirito." Asuna continued, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm being serious. Kirito isn't dead. Here, I'll show you." I responded, slowly pushing her hand off my shoulder. Asuna crossed her arms and looked at me sceptically.

"Look, Yuuki. I understand your grief. He was my friend too. Your love has just died right in front of–"

"My love?!" I indignantly exclaimed. "What are you on?" Pausing for a second, I continued. "Look, just let me show you my proof. If it's illogical, wrong and stupid, I'll drop it and accept that my _best friend_ is dead. And probably sob, swear blood vengeance and breakdown. Not in that order." I pleaded, emphasising that Kirito and I were only really good friends, not lovers.

" _Denial once more."_ Silica's voice chimed in my head. I really need to see a psychologist because I think I've lost the plot. Asuna sighed and unfolded her arms.

"Fine, show me then." Asuna said in a tone that said she was merely entertaining me and still very sceptical.

"Look at the party health bar. Read out all the names you can see." I ordered, staring at the collective healthbars as well.

"Ok… Asuna, Hiyoto, Ilda, Itu, Kirito and Yuuki. Wait… Kirito?" Asuna's face scrunched up in confusion as she started rereading the list of names.

"See, I told you! He's still alive but where I don't know. I mean, if he died, his name would be removed from our list and even if it didn't, his healthbar would have no colour, unlike his currently which is green again." I said, watching as Asuna smiled, confirming that Kirito was indeed alive and that I was not in absolute denial. _"You are in denial"_ Again, I need a psychologist.

"Hey Asuna, Yuuki! That wasn't Kirito, it was an NPC that coincidentally favours Kirito's horrible fashion taste of black." Hiyoto half-shouted to Asuna and I. I giggled at Hiyoto's joke about Kirito's horrible fashion taste. "That means Kirito– " Hiyoto continued before Asuna and I interrupted him.

"–is alive, yes we know." Asuna and I walked towards Hiyoto, Ilda and Itu, the latter two were grinning in relief as they also concluded that Kirito was still alive.

"So, how are you? Anyone dead? No? Welp, let's get to my base. Let's GOOOOOO!" A sudden, rather high-pitched, child-like voice queued the entrance for the very same blonde-haired person that saved us from Ares. Except that he looks….

"Younger. I swear you looked older." Ilda commented, voicing out my thoughts. The NPC completely ignored our comments, whether it be that he couldn't hear us or that he wasn't programmed to respond to that. The NPC then stood completely still, staring creepily at me.

"Um… ok? Could you stop staring?" I asked, starting to get creeped out. The NPC did not respond and continued staring at me.

"Broken much? Or is it waiting for a key word?" Itu questioned, waving his hand in front of the boy. The boy did not react as expected.

"Ok? Let's go?" Ilda said, grabbing at meaningless possible key words. At once the boy sprang back to life, stopping his stare at me and started his dialogue once more.

"Ok, I'm going to cast a spell. It's going to teleport us straight to the base." Without pausing, he started to chant meaningless words. Well, I think they're meaningless.

"domus rebellionis Ianuae Magicae amplis caeruleum mediocris!" A blue circle started being traced around us, as if an invisible hand was drawing with glowing blue light. As soon as the outline of the circle was complete, the entire circle was filled with glowing blue light.

"Ready, set GOOOOOO!" The boy howled in delight, sticking his palm face up to the sky. A crimson lightning bolt struck his hand, quite literally charging his hand with red electricity.

"Is it just me or is this Kayaba trying to impress us with graphics and theatrics?" Asuna asked to no one in particular. Laughing, the NPC gave no response and struck his hand into the ground, causing the electricity in his hand to spread and surround everyone. The red electricity danced around our bodies, orbiting in gradually increasing pace.

"See you on the other side!" The boy cheerfully said before the electricity imploded on him, winking out of existence.

"Wait, that looks painful!" I complained but my complaint wasn't heard by anyone as my own cocoon of electricity collapsed on itself, plunging me into darkness.

 **Kirito's POV**

Soo… not only have I lost my party, but I've managed to literally stumble across a giant monster horde of cyclops, weird half-snake ladies with bows and literal wolves from hell. Not only that, but my health was on critical red and I have no time to heal before this horde rips me to shreds. Now all I need is greatsword wielding giants, protected with punk-like spiky armour. Scrap that, I think I see silhouettes of said monsters in the background. A quest notification then popped up, something about having six minutes to survive a horde of monsters, of which should be right in front of me.

"I guess I'll have to use my crystal then." I grumbled to myself, grabbing one of my emergency use-only-if-you're-dead-otherwise, healing crystals. "Heal!" I exclaimed, thrusting it into the air. The crystal shattered as my health zoomed back to full health. Now I have exactly two seconds to get ready. Drawing my sword from my back, I barely had time dodge stampeding cyclops wielding an assortment of hammers, swords, spears and a stick? " _Where are they going?"_ I thought to myself, watching as the "first wave" raced past me towards some unknown location to fight an unknown enemy, well… an ally in my case.

Before I could really think about the logic behind the cyclops, a volley of arrows struck me, taking out half of my health. "But I just healed!" I whined before focusing on the battle, cutting down several half-snake ladies before they could fire a second round. About half of the archers had been slain before they could fire a second volley. Firing the second volley, I deflected most of them with my sword, managing to slice a few in half. Before I could counterattack and end the archers, the previously mentioned wolves from hell pounced at me, blindsiding me. That took a good chunk of my health down and now I was near the lower end of the yellow. _"Crap, I don't have enough time to whip out a secondary healing crystal. The wolves will keep me occupied long enough for the archers to launch another volley. Even with half their numbers, they probably could finish me off, that's if the wolves don't finish me off here."_ I thought desperately, trying to find a way out of my predicament.

"Stupid, bloody wolves." I grunted as I used another sword skill to sweep a bunch of hellhounds into the air, giving me a clearance straight to the archers. Jumping into the air, I lunged for the nearest wolf, grabbing onto it and wildly slashing at it until it died. Then I leapt towards the next hellhound, repeating the same thing. Around halfway through slaughtering the hellhounds, arrows started sailing through the air, with a distinct _twang_ sound of a bow. By then, I was falling back to the ground with no way to avoid the oncoming wall of arrows. Desperate, I grabbed the nearest hellhound which was still flailing around and held it in front of me like a shield. Even if it didn't harm the hellhound, it should stop the arrows.

To my relief, it did. "You are of no more use to me anymore." I said to the hellhound as we landed on the ground, plunging my sword into its abdomen, killing it. Without a moment's hesitation, I ran straight at the snake-ladies, intent on finishing them off. The remaining hounds pounced at me, some narrowly missing me, other nipping me on the ankle. Though I'll admit, taking a tenth of my health is not nipping, more like chomping. I ignored the hellhounds and hastily put my sword behind my head, triggering my oldest and most reliable sword skill. Sword Dash.

Crouching, I waited for the two second charge up before being driven forward by my sword, as if an invisible force was pulling sword forwards. I closed the gap between me and the archers, impaling two with my skill. The remaining were quickly dealt with using swift sword skills. Turning around, I slew the rest of the hounds.

After slaying the hellhounds, I saw that one of them had dropped a strange potion with bubbling cyan liquid inside. Picking it up from the floor, I tapped it with my index finger, opening the item menu.

* * *

[Item] Potion of Duplication

A potion that creates an NPC version for you to fight with.

Be warned:

The clone is an insta-aggro, meaning that it will attack any monster near its vicinity regardless of your orders.

* * *

"Cool. I'm probably gonna end up poisoning myself but what the heck." I said to myself, probably a sign of madness. I took out the cork stopper from the glass bottle and drank its contents. A split second later, a blue wispy thing enveloped my body. _"Oh crap, I screwed up. I done firetrucked it this time."_ Before full panic could ensue, the blue wispy _thing_ surged outwards away from me, forming a perfect clone of me.

"Hi, my name is Otirik." The clone said with the perfect imitation of my voice. Before I had a chance to respond, he suddenly wandered off, his sword drawn.

"Ok, bye then!" I said sarcastically, pausing to drink a health potion before planning my next move. Cringing at the bitter taste, I decided that I would continue wandering the forest to try and find Yuuki and the others.

Walking in a random direction, I suddenly heard a maniacal-like laugh of delight to my left. Moments later, bolts of crimson lightning started to rain at a centralised point, like a beacon. Following the direction of the bolts of lightning, I soon found a glowing blue circle with cocoons of what seemed like red lightning. Curious, I stepped inside the circle, only for more red lightning to come crashing down from the sky and cocooning me as well. My vision started to fade, but for a brief second, I swear I saw Yuuki.

A few seconds later, I could see that my vision was turning from pitch black into something. A cave… with market stalls, NPCs, soldiers and the boy who rescued us.

"So… feel free to shop around in our base. When you're ready to embark on a quest to get some god-vanquishing materials, talk to me down at the ancient temple!" The boy said before running off to who knows where. Beside me, I could hear a groan.

"What happened? Why did the teleport thing take so long?" I heard Hiyoto ask.

A second question was followed up by Ilda. "Where is our guide? Where are we?"

Finally, Yuuki asked the final question. "Where is Kirito?"

"Well, you obviously teleported. The teleport probably took a long time because it was waiting for me, your guide is down at the ancient temple, as for where we are, I'm pretty sure we're at the rebellion base or something like that. To answer Yuuki's question, I'm right here." I answered methodically, taking a step forward towards the rest of my party.

"Kirito!" Yuuki exclaimed, tackling me into a hug.

"Well, we thought you were dead at first. But its good to know that you're back with us." Asuna said, a smile on her face.

"Anyway, our guide said that we could shop and explore for a bit. When we're ready to progress, he said to meet him at the Ancient Temple." I informed them, as Yuuki detached herself from me.

"Well, I do need more potions…." Asuna mused, opening her inventory. "And you're coming with me!" she said to Hiyoto, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him towards the stalls.

"I need to get some healing crystals as well." Itu said, heading off to another part of the stalls.

"I need to go with my brother to make sure he's not being… shady again." Ilda explained before running off to catch up with Itu.

"Well, I don't need anything, do you?" I asked, opening my inventory to find an area map of the base.

"Nope." Yuuki replied, making a popping sound with the 'p'. "We should just wait at the Ancient Temple. Do you know the way?" Yuuki asked, trying to peer over my shoulder. I looked at the area map only to be greeted with the sight of a literal labyrinth.

"What on earth? This place is literally a maze. I think, we should go right at this junction." I said with uncertainty, walking towards the right. Yuuki followed beside me.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME KIRITO?!" Yuuki hollered as we passed the thirty-minute mark, wandering around this maze of a base.

"Yup, I'm lost. I have no idea how we can get to the Ancient Temple." I concede, slumping my shoulders in defeat.

"You know what? I'm going to pull up the map for myself. You're hopeless at navigating with maps." Yuuki went on, opening her own inventory and reading the map.

"It's not my fault this base is structured like an impossible maze!" I shot back.

"Yes, but it's your fault for being bad at reading maps. Look! There's a clear path to the Ancient Temple." Yuuki rebutted, before pointing to her own map and showing it to me. And at that moment, I felt like walking to the nearest wall and doing 50 head bangs. To make things worse, when Yuuki accidentally tapped the Anciet Temple icon on the map, a pathway lit up on the map, in hot pink. You thought that was the worst? You're wrong. Then, in the actual environment we were in, the pathway started to light up with hot pink arrows showing the path to the Ancient Temple.

"Well, that makes things a lot easier." I said. Yuuki simply facepalmed. "I'll race you there?" I challenged.

"Your grave." Yuuki taunted, a grin on her face, a competitive look in her eyes. I swear I'm in love with that– hold up, not going there. I'm sorry, my mind hasn't been quite sane. _"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt…"_ A voice suspiciously sounding like Agil echoes in my mind. I ignored it and instead concentrated on our impromptu footrace.

"Ok, On three, one, two…" With that I ran ahead, my eyes darting around to find the next arrow.

"Oh no, you don't." Yuuki managed to pre-empt my tactic and immediately surged ahead of me.

"Damn, I thought you would've fallen for that!" I admitted, trying to distract Yuuki.

"You've pulled it too many times for that to work." Yuuki said, smirking.

"Well, obviously, the only reason I do that is because if I don't, you'll always win!" I said, trying to find any shortcuts. Sadly, the system already planned the fastest route.

"I appreciate the flattery but its not gonna make you win." Yuuki countered, running faster and faster.

We were about three quarters of the way there when Yuuki decided to go all out. Leaving me in the dust, she arrived next to the NPC within a minute. On the otherhand, it took me two minutes to reach the NPC.

"Someone needs to work on their fitness and stamina." Yuuki said, crossing her arms and leaning on a stone pillar. I gave no response, trying to catch my breath.

"Well, you finally came, we thought you were lost or completely forgot about the quest." Asuna commented, glaring slightly at me more than Yuuki.

"Well, someone needs to go back to primary school and learn how to read maps. Because this idiot," Yuuki said, pointing to me, "got us lost for thirty minutes."

"In my defence I was never good at mazes." I said.

"Defence dismissed. Pitiful." Ilda said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Since when were _you_ the judge?" I asked.

"Guys, we need to focus on the quest. Everyday we are here is another day lost in the real world." Hiyoto said, drawing our focus.

"How long have we been down here anyway?" Itu asked plainly. There was a collective groan before Ilda elbowed her younger brother.

"So, lets talk to the NPC then!" Yuuki cheerfully said before tapping the NPC on the shoulder.

"Hey, so you're ready? Ok, so this temple is where we can get small fragments of a mythical metal known as Hihi'irokane or Scarletitie. Through ancient myths and legends, it has been told that this metal can mortally wound any deity. I mean, it's not legend since we already know about this and also because I used it to save you. But that's not the point. So far, we've never been able to progress to the centre of the Temple as its guardians are too tough. But, we suspect that a giant ore of Hihi'iokane is at the centre and if you can bring it to us, we can craft a weapon to kill Ares with and free our land!"

"Um, ok?" Yuuki said, stepping back as the NPC started walking towards the temple interior. To be honest, the ancient temple was more like an ancient temple ruin. There was a smallish stone courtyard about the size of one football field that was littered with broken stone pillars. At the very centre was a stone sundial, plain and ordinary. The NPC quickly walked up to the sundial and grabbed the hand (of the sundial, you know, the thing that sticks out). He started to turn it anti-clockwise until it was at nine o'clock.

At that moment, the temple started to shake and rumble with two giant obsidian pillars rising from the ground. The sundial itself started to retract into the ground while the pathway in front of us started to form a staircase downwards, underneath the courtyard. At the very bottom was an ominous black door, with two purple pillars supporting it as door frames.

"Here, is the entrance to the Sacred Temple. Good luck!" the NPC explained, before guiding us down the steps to the door where he then stood motionless, beside the door.

"So, is everybody ready?" I asked, touching the door with my hand. A notification popped up in front of me.

* * *

Entrance to the _Mythicon Metallum_ Temple

Do you wish to enter?

Warning: You cannot get out of this temple until the task has been completed.

[Yes] [No]

* * *

Everybody chorused a resounding "yes". Taking that as confirmation, I pressed the [Yes] icon. The notification disappeared. The doors started to groan and squeak as they slowly opened by themselves. When the door had fully opened, torches started to light up by their own with purple fire. In front of us was an empty corridor. We all stepped inside and as we did, the doors closed shut behind us. A new quest notification popped up.

* * *

Mission: Time to _steel_ some metallum!

In order to progress through this overarching quest, you need to go to the centre of this do this, you'll have to defeat the temple guardians of which there are four of Gauntlet Luck!

Progress: 0/4

Rewards:

[Quest Item] Giant Hihi'irokane Ore x 1

EXP x 10000000 (Shared)

[Item] Eternal Flame x 1

* * *

"Bad Puns aside, this mini-quest seems relatively straightforward." Itu said, moving on ahead to the end of the corridor. "So now, we face boss number one.". Stepping into the next room, torches started flickering to life again, revealing a rocky room with bright orange crystals lining the walls. In the middle, a giant man dressed in little more than a loincloth and a lion-skin coat, wielding a ginormous wooden club.

"Heracles, the Nemean lion-slayer. I'm guessing he's a slow, heavy hitter." Hiyoto said, analysing the stature of the boss. Heracles, upon hearing his name sprung to life, with red glowing eyes. With a roar he commenced the boss battle, swinging his heavy club around like a madman.

"Spread out, or you'll get hit!" I yelled, ducking as the giant club narrowly missed my head. After a few swings, the boss started to tire, leaving an open window for us to attack.

"There's our window of opportunity, attack!" Yuuki yelled, running towards the boss with her blade glowing purple. "Mother's Rosario!" I followed up her attack with a skill known as Consecutive Fury. This skill made my sword glow a different colour for each hit I managed to land, increasing in damage until I was hit or stopped hitting, the combo window being three seconds. Slashing furiously, I saw in my peripheral vision that the others were unloading all their skills as well, colours glowing in an assortment of different colours. Once my strike count got to 50, Heracles started to move again.

"Crap, he's recovering, fall back!" I warned, running backwards. Everyone managed to retreat except for Yuuki, who was still performing one of her sword skills. Before Yuuki could do anything, Heracles grabbed Yuuki with his hand, leaving Yuuki to squirm under his grip. Slowly wriggling his hands, Yuuki's healthbar started to drop rapidly, with Yuuki crying out in pain. After a few seconds, Heracles threw Yuuki towards us with enormous force, damaging Yuuki even further to the point of being in critical health.

"Yuuki, are you all right?" I asked, running over to her and tipping a health potion into her mouth. Yuuki staggered onto her feet, using my shoulder for support.

"Ow, his grip attack really, really hurts. It's almost as if he was breaking all the bones in my body." Yuuki replied. Looking back at the boss, I could see that we had lowered his health down to half-health. Heracles grunted loudly, casting his massive club aside.

"PUNY MORTALS! I AM HERACLES, SON OF ZEUS AND NOW YOU SHALL TASTE MY LIGHTNING!" Heracles bellowed, forming a giant sword made of crackling electricity in one hand while creating a ball of electricity in his other.

"This isn't good, I have a feeling that we can't block any of his attacks." Ilda advised, holding her scythe in a crouched position.

"Incoming, first attack!" Yuuki warned, jumping to the side as Heracles brought down his giant electric sword towards where Yuuki had been. Circling Heracles, I tried to figure out a strategy in taking the boss down. After a few heavy swings with his electricity sword, Heracles started firing balls of electricity at us, the balls being the size of gym balls. The worst part is that they were hurtling at what seemed like the speed of sound, making extremely hard to dodge.

I started to run straight at Heracles, signalling for Ilda and Itu to do the same. Instead of a confused response, Heracles countered our strategy with a low swing of his sword, barely touching the ground. I jumped up with Ilda just in time to dodge the attack but poor Itu was caught in the attack, which sent him flying towards the wall. Ilda immediately pounced towards Heracles, managing to pull off a scythe skill, leaving some nasty wounds near his neck. That was until Heracles swatted Ilda like we would to a mosquito or fly.

Taking advantage of Heracles' concentration on Ilda, I pressed my attack, activating a few different skills in line with each other. The first was most trusty Sword Dash, followed by the Reversal Tri-slice and finally Vertical Square. At the end of my final skill, in which four identical sword slashes expanded outwards towards the boss, I saw the boss surround himself with his cloak. Looking at his healthbar, I could see that he was in the red zone for his final healthbar.

"This is it, let's finish him!" Asuna yelled, charging at the boss with her rapier. That was when things went badly. The cloak which he surrounded himself in seemed to be impenetrable, with none of our attacks doing any damage to him.

"How are we supposed to kill him?" Hiyoto asked as he tried repeatedly stabbing the cloak to no avail.

"Target his head!" Itu said, pole-vaulting using his Guandao to reach Heracles' head. From there he started to stab at his head, causing the boss' health to drop. With a few more hits, Heracles was finished, shattering into a million pixels.

"Well, that's boss one done! Three more to go." Yuuki said, drinking a health potion. A small notification popped up.

* * *

Progress: 1/4

* * *

Suddenly the torches extinguished themselves, only to relight themselves with a cyan flame. In front of us, where previously there had been nothing was another room, this time in the shape of a triangle. In the centre of the room stood a warrior clothed in purely ornate and golden armour, complete with a triangular golden shield and a curved golden sabre.

As we stepped inside, the warrior gave us a curt bow before assuming a battle stance.

"Prepare to die. Your lives are forfeit. I, Chrysaor, son of Poseidon will send you to a watery grave." With that, Chrysaor charged at us, his sabre moving at a ridiculous pace. So fast that I wasn't able to parry nor block most of his attacks, leaving me with half a healthbar. While Chrysaor was distracted with me, Yuuki and Asuna took the opportunity to strike at Chrysaor's back. Ilda and Itu struck his sides while Hiyoto dragged my wounded body from Chrysaor. Chrysaor took serious damage from that assault, but unlike Heracles, he only lost a quarter of his total health.

"Very well played. But now, I assure you, your doom arrives!" Chrysaor snarled as he jumped back towards the centre of the room. Twirling his sword menacingly, he tossed his shield, like Captain America at a nearby wall. Instead of crumpling at the wall, it started to bounce off the walls.

"Are you kidding me? So we not only have to dodge the shield but face Chrysaor with his insanely fast attack speed?" I exclaimed, gritting my teeth as I drank another health potion. Ducking to avoid his ricocheting shield held up sword in a guard. Chrysaor suddenly started to use sword skills, his sword alternating between cyan and dark green as he switched between rapier and sword skills. He approached Itu using a Sword Dash skill followed by a Quadruple Pain. This fast and deadly combo left Itu defenceless as he started taking massive hits to his health, only able to parry two of the four jabs delivered by Chrysaor. Before anyone had a chance to assault him from behind, Chrysaor switched targets to Yuuki, sabre glowing cyan. Instead of seeing Yuuki get demolished by Chrysaor's blinding attacks, Yuuki managed to parry all four of his Quadruple Pain jabs before stopping his backhanded Reversal Tri-slice.

"Switch!" Yuuki yelled as she moved backwards, allowing for Hiyoto to switch in and deliver a devastating knife attack that dropped Chrysaor's health to half way.

"That is it, you have now earned yourself a painful death. I summon thee Dolphins!" Chrysaor yelled, raising his sword into the air. At once, several dolphins with pirate sabres and eye patches spawned around him.

"Are those dolphins that look like pirates?" Asuna questioned in amusement, raising her rapier.

"I think so." Hiyoto affirmed, flipping his knife grip so that he was holding them backwards.

At once, the dolphins started to charge at us as Chrysaor stood in the middle, charging some sort of water-based attack. The dolphins weren't as agile as Chrysaor, which was a relief. As such, we dealt with them pretty quickly, aiming for abdomen attacks as they mainly focused on head-guarding and striking, leaving their lower-half exposed. As the last dolphin crumbled into pixels, Chrysaor let loose his charged attack. And that attack took form of several water swords hovering in the air before being sent flying towards us. And wave after wave it went (no pun intended). There simply was no stop to his endless barrages of flying water swords.

Taking a gamble, I decided to charge at Chrysaor head on, just like I did with Heracles. Unlike the Heracles attempt, this one was actually successful as Chrysaor heeded no attention to me, instead sending more and more water swords at my friends. Thrusting my sword into Chrysaor, I noticed that all the water swords immediately burst into harmless raindrops. Expecting a retaliation from Chrysaor, I quickly withdrew my sword and stepped backwards with a guard. But instead of seeing Chrysaor deliver crushing blows at me, I saw a stunned Chrysaor with one health bar left.

Just like that, everyone else started to attack Chrysaor, managing to kill him before he was able to attack ever again. As he shattered into pixels, imitating Darth Vader's "Nooooooo", we all drank our potions and checked our inventories. As like before, another small notification appeared briefly before fading away.

* * *

Progress: 2/4

* * *

Then the torches flickered out again, plunging us into darkness. The torches then burst into normal orange flames, revealing that we had somehow teleported into a circular room with what seemed like ice on the roof.

"Welcome to the inner sanctum of this temple. We assume that you're here to obtain the giant ore. Sadly, father has tasked us to guard it just in case you used it to permanently slay him." A voice echoes throughout the room. We looked around but saw no one. Suddenly, shadows formed in the middle of the room to reveal two figures. One had a black cloak covering his face. In fact, he looked like a Ringwraith. The other wielded two swords and was dressed in blood red robes. "Prepare to die mortals. We, Phobos and Deimos will be your doom!"

"Wow, what's with the dramatic boss monologues?" Itu asked, impatiently tapping his Guandao against the ground.

"Impertinent Mortal, don't interrupt us! Now prepare to face your fears." The Ringwraith, whose healthbar identified as Phobos snarled. Interestingly enough, the two brothers had only two health bars, which made our lives much easier. Opening the boss battle, Phobos decided to shoot what seemed like purple wisps shaped like ghosts out of his hands. They slowly meandered their way towards us. Deimos on the other hand, zoomed in like a homing rocket and started to swing his swords like a mad man. Leaping out of the way of Deimos, I started to slash at the ghosts, wondering if they would be destroyed with normal attacks. Surely enough, the wisps disappeared as my sword came into contact with it.

"Asuna, Hiyoto and Ilda, can you deal with Deimos? Yuuki, Itu and I will deal with Phobos." I ordered, leaping towards Phobos, who was sent reeling by Yuuki's Mother Rosario.

"Got it!" Ilda said before moving in to intercept Deimos, block his strike mid-motion. Focusing my attention to Phobos, I parried Phobos sword strike, calling "Switch!". Itu surged forwards, using his Guandao to pierce Phobos' hand. This was followed up with a flashing green blade slicing at Phobos' chest. Phobos fell backwards, clutching his chest as his health bar plummeted to half health.

Phobos started to chant creepily. "ignis ardentem flammam gladii potestatem metus meis!" With an emphasis on the last word, his sword caught on fire. In the abyss of blackness that is his face, a glowing red eye appeared, glaring sinisterly at us. With a battle cry, Phobos swung his sword at us, as if he was chopping down weeds. I was caught by surprise and hit several times by the burning blade. That resulted in my health plummeting straight down to red and a new status effect placed on me. Burning.

With panic, I desperately grabbed my healing crystal, intent on healing myself before the burning effect could kill me. And I just made it on time. Yelling "Heal!" I saw my vision tinting red, a sign that I was about to die. The crystal shattered in my hand into pixels as my healthbar rose up and along with it, the status effect removed.

Wanting to warn my friends, I shouted: "Watch out for Phobos' attack. He'll cast a burning status effect on you!" Phobos obviously seemed to be annoyed that I had spread information about him and so focused his attacks on me again. Blow after blow was aimed at me, of which I managed to dodge or block with my blade. This gave time for Yuuki and Itu to sneak up behind it and unleash their most powerful weapon skills on him, killing him. As the final blow was landed on Phobos, he screeched a painful sound, similar to the screeching of Ringwraiths when they were burning. As if the game read my mind, Phobos' cloak caught on fire and started to disintegrate his cloak.

"Noooo, Brother!" Deimos yelled. "THAT'S IT. YOU ARE DEAD." With this, Deimos grew two more arms, making his grand total of arms with swords to four. Swinging the back two hands at ridiculous speeds, he charged at Itu and Yuuki, intent on slicing and dicing them. Too bad Hiyoto, Asuna and Ilda had managed to finish of his healthbar before he reached them.

"Father, I have failed you." Deimos said, looking up towards the ceiling. With that, he plunged his sword into his chest and exploded into a giant fiery explosion. When the explosion had cleared, we were left with a pedestal, which on top housed an orangish ore the size of trash can. A notification popped up.

* * *

Progress: 4/4

* * *

Another replaced it.

* * *

Mission: Time to _steel_ some metallum!

Completed!

Rewards:

[Quest Item] Giant Hihi'irokane Ore x 1

EXP x 10000000 (Shared)

[Item] Eternal Flame x 1 {Yuuki}

* * *

The sound of players levelling up sounded. I had gone up by one level. Itu walked towards the pedestal to grab the ore. When his fingers touched it, it disappeared, presumably into his inventory.

As we were walking back towards the entrance of the temple, talking about the bosses, Yuuki asked me about something in her inventory. "Do you know what the Eternal Flame does?"

"Why, did you receive it?"

"Yeah, but it won't give me any details." She replied.

"Well, I don't know either. Guess we'll investigate it further after this long quest." I said, sheathing my sword, realising that I hadn't done that but was walking with it in my hand the whole time. As we exited the temple, another notification popped up. Yuuki was first to make a comment.

"You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

 **That's it for chapter 12.**

 **12,551 words.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please feel free to leave a review for feedback or suggestions. Any feedback is appreciated.**

 **See you next time on the Tale of Zekken and the Beater!**

 **Peace be with you all!**

 **~Herosassin**


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